Latest news with #LauraLoomer
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Laura Loomer takes victory lap over firing of ex-FBI chief Comey's daughter after pressing ‘Pam Blondi'
Far-right activist Laura Loomer celebrated the Department of Justice's decision to fire the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, Maurene Comey, who prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell. Comey was terminated as a federal prosecutor for the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, according to reports. It's not immediately clear what led to her termination. The Independent has reached out to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the DOJ for comment. The move comes weeks after Comey led the prosecution of Sean 'Diddy' Combs. The rapper was convicted of prostitution-related charges but cleared of the more serious charges: racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. Before that, she prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after her 2021 conviction on charges related to her role in a scheme to abuse minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein. Loomer seemed thrilled about the move. 'This comes 2 months after my pressure campaign on Pam Blondi to fire Comey's daughter and Comey's son-in-law from the DOJ,' Loomer boasted in a X post on Wednesday, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Justice Department fires Maurene Comey, according to reports (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) In May, Loomer urged Bondi to terminate Comey and her husband, Lucas Issacharoff, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the civil rights division. 'If Blondi was a serious person, she would FIRE them both for being a national security risk via their proximity to a criminal who just committed a felony by threatening to assassinate the President,' the far-right activist wrote in a lengthy X post. Days earlier, the former FBI director faced intense scrutiny after posting a photo of shells depicting '8647' on his Instagram account. Some close to Trump believed the post was a call to 'assassinate' Trump. The elder Comey later took down the photo, denied that he intended for any violence, and said the message was "totally innocent." Loomer continued: 'Both Maurene Comey and Lucas Issacharoff need to be FIRED from the DOJ immediately. If Blondi refuses to fire them, she should RESIGN.' On Wednesday, she applauded the attorney general: '+1 for Blondi today!' This week, Trump accused James Comey — as well as former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden — of having 'made up' the Epstein files, a controversy that has created a schism in MAGA world. Laura Loomer first called for the younger Comey to be fired in May (Getty Images) It's not immediately clear if Loomer's demands played a role in the Trump administration's decision to fire Comey. Loomer does appear to have Trump's ear when it comes to who he keeps in his administration. Loomer met with Trump in April and urged him to fire members of the National Security Council who had been disloyal to him. Not long after, the president terminated several NSC staff. In May, the far-right activist believed Trump's pick for surgeon general, Janette Nesheiwat, was 'not ideologically aligned with Donald Trump or his admin's health initiatives' so she called for a new nominee. The president later withdrew Nesheiwat's nomination. Asked how many staffing decisions she's had a hand in, Loomer told the New York Times this month: 'I don't even know.' She continued: 'I really enjoy and take great pleasure in humiliating people who suck at their job.'
Telegraph
a day ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Trump's Epstein problem is the biggest crisis of his presidency
Donald Trump has a simple three-pronged approach for dealing with crises: deny, deflect, distract. Cry fake news, then blame Democrats — and if all else fails order a huge shift in policy that sends the media chasing a new shiny object. None of that is working to defuse the furore among his supporters about the mysteries hidden in the so-called 'Epstein files', the supposed client list buried in pages and pages of documents from the investigation into the paedophile activities of the late financier. On Friday the president was battling fresh insult: the accusation that he had penned a bawdy Birthday message and lewd drawing to Epstein in 2003. It has mired Mr Trump in the deepest crisis of his presidency. His supporters believe that the documents are being held under lock and key to protect a powerful cabal of abusers, and nothing will persuade them otherwise. Even Laura Loomer, the Right-wing provocateur and Trump loyalist who has done more than anyone to keep the story in the headlines, sounds worried about what she helped unleash. 'When I say this could consume his presidency, I mean that if a special counsel isn't appointed it will be all consuming, like 'Russiagate' was,' she said. Ms Loomer set out how an independent prosecutor could be the best way to sift through the evidence and draw a line under the matter before it becomes a defining narrative. She said: 'They need to find a way to pivot internally. That doesn't mean ignoring it. It just means put it in someone else's control so that we can move on.' For her, the culprit is not Mr Trump. He did not campaign on a manifesto pledge to release the documents, she says, but made the offer in an interview. Instead she blames Pam Bondi, Mr Trump's attorney general, (whom she nicknames 'Pam Blondi) for apparently confirming the existence of a 'client list'. Was she trying to mislead the public or was she lazy, and had not actually read the files before commenting on them? So far Mr Trump has stood by Ms Bondi. In a show of support, she appeared with Mr Trump in the presidential box at the Fifa Club World Cup final on Sunday. On Thursday, Mr Trump tried a different tack, asking a court to release grand jury testimony from the Epstein case. 'This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!' he wrote on his Truth Social platform. The flaw in this approach became immediately obvious as Democrats licked their lips and quickly launched a counter-attack. Daniel Goldman, a New York Democrat, pointed out that those documents would only relate to Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. 'What about videos, photographs and other recordings?' he asked, clearly delighting in the Maga-world disarray. However, the latest embarrassing twist in the story might finally offer Mr Trump a way to unite his fractious base. His lifeline comes in the form of the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal, the paper who claimed that Mr Trump contributed a lewd birthday letter to a compilation for Epstein in 2003. It was three years before the billionaire financier was arrested for prostitution-related offences but the alleged message – ending with 'may every day be another wonderful secret' – is a terrible look today. But now some of Maga world's loudest voices have a new villain. Steve Bannon, who has warned repeatedly that Mr Trump has to listen to his base on Esptein, picked up the subject with gusto. 'The Wall Street Journal is supposed to be so revered,' he told viewers of his WarRoom show on Friday. 'This was a political operative deep state intelligence services hit job using the Wall Street Journal as its platform.' So, are the 'Epstein files' being covered up by the deep state, the media — or the White House? Trump-world will now be forced to pick a side. In the meantime, the president can only hope they pick his.
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
MAGA influencers line up behind Trump after days of pressuring administration for more on Epstein
Steve Bannon joined a growing chorus of MAGA influencers coalescing behind President Donald Trump in the wake of the Wall Street Journal report about a ribald birthday letter bearing Trump's name that was sent to Jeffrey Epstein, telling CNN Friday that he believed the story had united a base that had been showing signs of fraying. 'We are finally on offense,' Bannon, Trump's former aide and a leader of the MAGA movement, said via text message to CNN. 'President Trump has had enough and is fighting back – against his real enemies.' Bannon was one of several of Trump's high-profile supporters who had been skeptical of the administration's handling of the Epstein case, pushing the administration to release more files on the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who authorities have said killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges. The pressure campaign intensified after the Justice Department said in a memo last week that there was no Epstein 'client list' and announced it wouldn't release any more documents related to the case. Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino told people he was considering resigning amid a clash with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the matter, though he has remained in his position. And some MAGA voices, like far-right activist Laura Loomer, had called for a special counsel to be appointed to look into the matter — which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday was not something Trump would recommend, although she echoed the president's earlier comments that Bondi could release other 'credible' information. But then came the Wall Street Journal's article Thursday night. The news organization reported that it had reviewed a collection of letters gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003, including a note bearing what appeared to be Trump's signature and an outline of a naked woman. Trump vigorously denied he wrote the letter, telling the Journal, 'It's not my language. It's not my words.' After the story published, the president threatened to sue the newspaper and owner Rupert Murdoch. Many of Trump's vocal online supporters quickly signaled their support for the president. Loomer, one of Trump's most vociferous defenders who had been one of Bondi's biggest critics over the Epstein case, called the Wall Street Journal story 'totally fake.' Charlie Kirk, another influential MAGA voice who had criticized Bondi, said on X: 'This is not how Trump talks at all. I don't believe it.' Soon after the story, Trump ordered Bondi to unseal 'pertinent' grand jury material from the Epstein case. It's unclear whether the move will be enough to quell the calls from Trump's supporters to release the entirety of the so-called Epstein files, given the grand jury transcripts represent a small portion of the evidence collected. But Bannon said Friday that was a 'good start.' 'Good start but stay on offense—it's when Trump is @ his best –attack, attack, attack,' Bannon wrote in a message to CNN when asked whether the order to release grand jury materials will be enough to calm that pressure. Bannon, a longtime critic of Murdoch, also argued that the media mogul will further serve as a uniting force for the president's base. 'Murdoch showed how much he loathes Trump,' Bannon said. 'Murdoch tried to destroy the President and failed – now Trump strikes back.' For his part, Trump said after the Wall Street Journal published its story that he had called Murdoch and asked him to kill the article. The Wall Street Journal declined to comment on Trump's post. 'The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued. Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so,' Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday evening.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
MAGA—From Elon Musk To Charlie Kirk—Rally Behind Trump After Epstein Birthday Card Report
President Donald Trump's base vigorously defended him in the wake of a Thursday Wall Street Journal report that he wrote a sexually suggestive letter to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday, with some claiming the alleged letter doesn't sound like the president. President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters while meeting with NATO Secretary General ... More Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House on July 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by) Getty Images JD Vance: The vice president tweeted that the Journal 'should be ashamed for publishing' the report, calling it 'complete and utter bullshit' while criticizing the paper for failing to publicize the letter or show it to the White House before writing about it. 'Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?' Vance wrote. Charlie Kirk: The conservative influencer tweeted 'this is not how Trump talks at all. I don't believe it.' Laura Loomer: Calling the Journal report 'totally fake,' Loomer said 'everyone who actually KNOWS President Trump knows he doesn't type letters' but instead 'writes messages in big black Sharpie.' Matt Gaetz: The former Florida GOP congressman, who has faced a sexual misconduct scandal of his own, called the report 'laughably false' and said 'I hope Trump gets millions' by suing the Wall Street Journal. Karoline Leavitt: The White House press secretary accused the Journal of publishing 'a hatchet job article with a FAKE 'birthday letter,'' accusing the paper of refusing to show the White House the letter and having 'conceded they don't even have it in their possession.' Elon Musk: 'It really doesn't sound like something Trump would say tbh,' the billionaire tweeted. Steven Cheung: The White House Communications Director accused 'the Democrats in coordination with the Fake News' of 'publishing a totally false and defamatory article,' in a tweet that said 'nobody in their right mind would ever believe this trash.' Musk's artificial intelligence assistant, Grok, gave contradicting responses to Musk and another user who asked about the legitimacy of the Journal report. In response to Musk asking if the report is fake or true, Grok said it's 'most likely fake' and 'doesn't match Trump's direct style or known handwriting.' But in response to another user, the chatbot said 'the letter appears authentic' and rejected Trump's denial as lacking 'substantiation.' Crucial Quote 'The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn't print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I'm going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.' California Gov. Gavin Newsom, in response to the Journal report, pointed out that Trump auctioned off a hand-drawn picture of the Manhattan skyline, contradicting Trump's claims that he doesn't draw pictures. Key Background The Journal reported that Trump gifted Epstein the sexually suggestive letter that included a drawing of a naked woman for his 50th birthday in 2003, citing documents reviewed by the paper, which did not publish an image of the alleged letter. In it, Trump allegedly wrote 'A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.' The report comes as Trump is facing mounting backlash from his base over the Justice Department's refusal to release any additional documents on its investigation into Epstein, despite previous suggestions from Trump's top law enforcement officials that it would. Trump has urged his supporters to move on from talking about Epstein. Further Reading Trump Directs Bondi To Release Some Epstein Documents, Threatens To Sue Wall Street Journal And Murdoch (Forbes) Jeffrey Epstein's Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump. (Wall Street Journal) House Approves $9 Billion Claw Back Of Public Broadcasting And Foreign Aid Funds After Drama Over Epstein (Forbes)
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
There's virtually no chance Laura Loomer gets the special counsel she's asking for
Sorry, Laura Loomer. It is extraordinarily unlikely that President Donald Trump's Justice Department will heed the far-right commentator's call to appoint a special counsel to manage the Jeffrey Epstein files for reasons both practical and political: Doing so would require a reversal of such gargantuan proportions that it seems almost impossible to imagine. Every member of the DOJ's upper ranks — Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, soon-to-be Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward and top DOJ official Emil Bove — has forcefully argued that independent special counsels defy the Constitution. In fact, they helped develop the argument that crushed one of special counsel Jack Smith's criminal cases against Trump last year. Trump himself spent years attacking the existence of special counsels — prosecutors appointed by the Justice Department to handle certain politically explosive cases. And he celebrated U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's ruling last year endorsing his argument. But it was Blanche, Woodward and Bove who refined the legal underpinnings of that argumentas criminal defense attorneys in Smith's investigation into the presence of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after Trump's first term. Bondi, at the time, worked for the pro-Trump America First Policy Institute and signed a brief echoing the president's position. Now, they would need to abandon their arguments entirely. Loomer, an increasingly influential Trump adviser, has spearheaded calls for a special counsel to oversee the handling of files connected to the investigation of Epstein, the disgraced financier who was convicted of sex crimes and suspected of trafficking minors before he died by suicide in jail in 2019. Bondi in February told Fox News that a 'client list' with high-profile names associated with Epstein's crimes was 'sitting on my desk right now to review.' Then, when Bondi and her DOJ leadership opted against making the case files public — despite years of hype and promises to expose the purportedly salacious details within them — Loomer began calling for Bondi to be fired and for a special counsel to take over the handling of the Epstein case. But the basis for a special counsel appointment in this case is unclear. DOJ regulations require that they be appointed to run active criminal investigations— which the Epstein case is not — and only when the Justice Department or administration has a conflict of interest connected to the matter. There's been no suggestion that Trump's DOJ leaders are conflicted, even if his allies have quarreled with their handling of it. On Wednesday, when asked if he was considering a special counsel, Trump said he had 'nothing to do with' the decision — effectively leaving the call to Bondi. Then today, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump 'would not recommend' that DOJ appoint a 'special prosecutor' in the Epstein saga. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. And special counsels, while maintaining a veneer of independence, nevertheless report to Justice Department leaders about major decisions and would, in this case, still operate under Bondi's supervision. In fact, the thrust of Bondi's argument in the Florida case was that Smith's claim of independent authority was inherently unconstitutional. 'Trump spent several years arguing that appointing a special counsel from outside DOJ was unconstitutional,' said Josh Blackman, a legal expert from South Texas College of Law Houston, who participated in the argument against Smith's appointment before Cannon. 'It is possible to designate a U.S. attorney to investigate. But that special counsel would still be supervised by Bondi. I'm not sure what would be gained.' Bondi would also have the ultimate say in whether any report from a special counsel is made public. Of course, precedent and consistency have not always dissuaded Trump from adopting politically convenient positions. But Trump has long distrusted special counsels and the independence they exercise, which can lead them down investigative paths that are not always predictable. In 2017, Trump's own Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to probe the 2016 Trump campaign's links to Russia, an investigation that dogged him for two years and led to several prosecutions of close advisers. In 2020, Trump privately endorsed the appointment of attorney Sidney Powell as special counsel to investigate his false claims of election fraud, part of his campaign to cling to power despite losing at the polls. But resistance from senior White House aides scuttled the appointment. And in 2022, President Joe Biden's attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed Smith, a veteran prosecutor, to probe Trump's effort to subvert the 2020 election, as well as his alleged concealment of classified documents. Both probes led to federal criminal charges — the first ever against a former president — that were dropped after Trump won a second term.
