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The Hill
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
MAGA comes to Trump's defense on Epstein after WSJ turmoil
Influential figures in the MAGA realm who have pushed the administration to release more documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's case are coming to President Trump's defense after The Wall Street Journal reported that the commander-in-chief allegedly sent a lewd letter to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender over 20 years ago. The Journal reported on Thursday about an alleged letter the president sent to Epstein in 2003 for his 50th birthday. The letter, a copy of which was not featured in the piece, reportedly has text framed by the outline of a naked woman and features the line 'Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.' Trump has denied writing the letter. The president sued the Journal the next day in federal court in the Southern District of Florida's Miami division, demanding billions of dollars in damages. 'This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media,' the president said on Truth Social. Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who last week called for a special prosecutor to be appointed to review the Epstein files, said on his 'War Room' show Friday, 'In fact, we made the recommendations that are the best for President Trump in this movement, which is President Trump is best when it's attack, attack, attack. This is the deep state. This is the ruling class in America. They're trying to use it to destroy President Trump.' On the podcast, Bannon asked MAGA podcaster and influencer Jack Posobiec, 'Where are we in all of this, sir?' 'We're so back. Look. Everyone is firing on all cylinders. The MAGA movement is completely united behind this fight right now,' Posobiec said. Conservative commentator and host Megyn Kelly, who has called out Trump supporters who deferred to the administration's posture on the Epstein controversy, said the Journal article on Thursday was the 'dumbest attempted hit piece I've ever read.' Tech billionaire Elon Musk, whose relationship with Trump soured in recent months amid a public fallout, said the 'letter sounds bogus.' Hours after the Journal article was published, Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday night to release relevant grand jury testimony in the Epstein case. The order from Trump was welcomed by MAGA as parts of the base have expressed deep dissatisfaction with the administration following last week's release of an unnamed joint DOJ and FBI memo, stating that Epstein did not keep the so-called 'client list' and that he died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial. After Trump issued the order to Bondi on Thursday night, Turning Point USA founder and conservative activist Charlie Kirk wrote on X that it was a 'major move. Let's go!' The DOJ followed through on Friday, filing a pair of nearly identical motions to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, requesting to unseal the grand jury transcripts. The DOJ said it would shield the names of potential victims and 'personal identifying information' prior to releasing the transcript. The release of grand jury transcripts is rare due to sensitive information, but not impossible. Right-wing activist Laura Loomer, an ardent supporter of Trump, slammed the former Chairman of News Corp Rubert Murdoch and argued that the president should 'cut him off' forever. News Corp owns the Journal. 'Rupert Murdoch should never be allowed to have access to Donald Trump ever again. He's a slime ball. He's a liar and he obviously tried to weaponize his News Corp to, and his media platform, very wealthy, multi-billion-dollar media platform, to assassinate the character of President Trump, because he was not successful in assassinating President Trump's 2024 presidential election,' Loomer said Friday while on Bannon's 'War Room' show. Trump bashed GOP voters earlier this week for being overly focused on the Epstein case and told his supporters that they should move on to other issues. The president also wondered why the Democratic Party lawmakers did not call for the release of the Epstein files while they controlled the White House and had the majority in the Senate. 'If there was a 'smoking gun' on Epstein, why didn't the Dems, who controlled the 'files' for four years, and had [former Attorney General Merrick] Garland and [ex-prosecutor Maureen] Comey in charge, use it,' Trump said Friday on Truth Social, adding 'BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!' Even if the administration releases all of the grand jury testimony, Trump said on Saturday that even those disclosures will not be enough to please the 'troublemakers and radical left lunatics.'
Axios
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Scoop: Mega-MAGA candidate pushes to deport "every single illegal immigrant"
Kentucky Senate candidate Nate Morris is rolling out a new ad that ups the ante on mass deportations right as a fresh debate over amnesty roils MAGAworld. Why it matters: Morris is casting himself as the most pro-Trump candidate in the GOP primary against Reps. Andy Barr and former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron — both of whom have ties to retiring former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. And he's leaning into one of MAGA's most foundational issues to do it. "I'm sick of watching the elites give handouts to illegals while working-class families struggle. I'll lead the fight against amnesty by stopping all immigration until we deport every single illegal immigrant in America," Morris says in the ad. "I'm a Trump guy, not a McConnell boy," Morris concludes in a barb at Barr and Cameron. Between the lines: The ad, launching Friday as part of a seven-figure buy that's running statewide on broadcast and streaming platforms, hits on a GOP third rail right as Republicans convulse over how to tackle the millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally. MAGA raged against suggestions from Trump that undocumented immigrants in the agriculture and hospitality industries could receive deportation protections. Critics called those proposals tantamount to "amnesty," which Trump denied, instead labeling the prospect a "work program." A new bipartisan House bill that would offer legal status to undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States since before 2021 is being met with the same hostile reaction by MAGA. Morris himself has taken a hardline immigration stance, having advocated for a moratorium on all immigration to the U.S. until every undocumented immigrant is deported. Zoom out: Morris is centering much of his campaign on his MAGA bona fides. The businessman has touted his outsider status, declared he stands with Trump "100%" and hammered McConnell, a Trump foe and establishment stalwart. Morris has also blitzed MAGA media to increase his name recognition with movement loyalists, appearing on "War Room," "The Charlie Kirk Show," Benny Johnson's podcast, Vince Coglianese's show in Dan Bongino's old time slot, Breitbart radio and more. "We don't care about traditional D.C. media because those aren't where our voters are," one strategist close to Morris said. "Kentucky GOP Primary voters are watching War Room, listening to Charlie Kirk and reading Breitbart. We also have a candidate whose aggressive style and unapologetically America first message is a perfect fit for MAGA media," the strategist added. What they're saying: Barr's campaign said the congressman "has never supported amnesty and never will" and bashed Morris' "new attempt to play MAGA on TV" as "lame."
CNBC
17-07-2025
- Politics
- CNBC
Trump would not recommend Jeffrey Epstein case special prosecutor, White House says
President Donald Trump "would not recommend a special prosecutor" to review the handling and files of the criminal case against the late serial sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein, the White House said Thursday. Even so, Trump "is in agreement with some of the leaders on Capitol Hill that if" Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department "come across any other credible evidence, they should provide that to the American people," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. Leavitt's comments come as there have been increasing calls in Congress for the Justice Department to release more of the evidence it assembled in the criminal case against Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019, weeks after he was arrested on child sex trafficking charges. Conspiracy-minded conservative activist Laura Loomer, a fierce defender of Trump and his policies, said Wednesday that the "best thing that the president can do is appoint a special counsel to handle the Epstein files investigation. Former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon, another influential voice on the far-right, also backs a special counsel. "The DOJ and FBI are overwhelmed. Let the special counsel report directly to the president," he said this week on his "War Room" podcast. Bondi has infuriated some of Trump's most hardline supporters with her decision in early July not to disclose any more evidence in the case. The frustration among Trump's MAGA base and criticism by Democrats, has provoked Trump to lash out, rejecting calls for more transparency about the Epstein case. "Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bull----,' hook, line, and sinker," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. "The Radical Left Democrats have hit pay dirt, again!," he said. Trump is a former friend of Epstein, who socialized with many rich and powerful people, including former President Bill Clinton and Britain's Prince Andrew. Trump has said he cut ties with Epstein years before the investment advisor was arrested on federal charges. Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel previously had vowed to release evidence from the Epstein files. "This Department of Justice is following through on President Trump's commitment to transparency and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators," Bondi said in April when the DOJ released an initial batch of records, much of which were already publicly known. Patel, in the same month, said that if records related to Epstein "have been hidden, we will uncover them." "And we will bring everything we find to the DOJ to be fully assessed and transparently disseminated to the American people as it should be," Patel said. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., are jointly seeking to force a vote in the House of Representatives calling for the release of the Epstein records. On Wednesday, the Justice Department summarily fired New York federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, whose criminal cases have included those of Epstein and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell. Comey is the daughter of James Comey, who was fired as FBI director by Trump in 2017. Leavitt on Thursday referred questions about Maurene Comey's termination to the Justice Department. The former prosecutor in an email to colleagues earlier in the day wrote, "If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain," Comey wrote. "Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns in the heart of this place," she wrote in the note. "A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power. Of commitment to seek justice for victims."
Newsweek
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Donald Trump Supports Special Prosecutor for Epstein Case, Ally Says
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate what he calls the "deep state," including a full probe into the Jeffrey Epstein case. In an interview previewed by journalist John Solomon on Steve Bannon's War Room, Trump reportedly told Solomon, a longtime ally, in part, "Let's just do it. Let's get the trust of the American people, let's get accountability and then let's focus on the things that matter." Solomon noted that Trump himself brought up Epstein, saying, "Just throw that into it... I got nothing to hide. I want truth and I want prosecutions." 🚨BREAKING: John Solomon previews his interview with President Trump, says Trump told him that he supports a deepstate special prosecutor, which will include an investiagtion into Epstein: BANNON: "You did inform him that they're thinking about appointing a special counsel on… — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 16, 2025 This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
Atlantic
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Atlantic
Trump Now Personifies What MAGA Opposes
We are witnessing one of the more shocking political events of recent times: Donald Trump's MAGA base, over which he has had a decade-long cultlike hold, is in open revolt against him. And his initial efforts to quell the uprising have, so far, only further inflamed it. The reason for this convulsive uprising is the claim by the Trump Justice Department, made in a two-page memo, that the financier and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in a cell while awaiting trial, that there was no incriminating client list kept by Epstein or anyone else, and that there was 'no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.' MAGA figures in the Trump administration, who once promised to reveal the dark truth about Epstein's death and the powerful Democrats involved in his world of sex trafficking and pedophilia, are now said to be complicit in a 'deep state' cover-up. Some commentators have gone so far as to suggest that even Trump himself might be involved. Trump is clearly enraged. On Wednesday, he savaged those in his base who are falling for what he now calls 'the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,' saying 'my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker.' Trump is demanding that his base move on. For the first time, many of them are saying no. At a large MAGA gathering over the weekend, the thousands in attendance made it clear that the Epstein case was foremost on their mind. That may change, as Trump drops the hammer, but what this moment has revealed is significant. Why this particular case is the one that MAGA world has fixated on is a fascinating question. Some of the best people to answer it might be MAGA Republicans. Natalie Winters, a correspondent for Steven Bannon's podcast War Room, told The New York Times that the Epstein case goes to the 'very foundation of MAGA' because 'it gets to the heart of who is in control of the country.' The MAGA movement, she explained, feels betrayed. 'I just think it's frankly very grifty to have spent your entire career promoting, even if it weren't the Epstein thing directly, but the idea that there is this deep state, the idea that there's this unelected class of, you know, bankers, corporation, countries, intel agencies, blah, blah, blah,' she told the Times. 'And then finally, you have the power to expose it, and either you're not, because there's nothing there, in which case it makes you a liar—and I don't believe that—or you're ineffective, or you're compromised.' At the Turning Point USA conference, Bannon said, 'Epstein is a key that picks the lock on so many things—not just individuals, but also institutions, intelligence institutions, foreign governments, and who was working with him on our intelligence apparatus and in our government.' Once the Epstein case became the personification of the deep state's nefariousness, it took on incredible, even hallowed meaning for MAGA supporters. It activated them in ways that only conspiracy theories—and angry, embittered fights over conspiracy theories—can do. For Trump to get on the wrong side of a MAGA conspiracy is highly unusual, and it explains why, for the first time, his base is upset with him. Trump is on the wrong side of what is, for them, sacred. The denizens of MAGA world tend to think differently from many other Americans. They are drawn to conspiracy theories, which provide a feeling of belonging and community, a core identity, and an us-versus-them narrative. Conspiratorial thinking provides them a sense of order in a world of vicissitudes, a feeling of control in a world that is often complicated and hard to decode, a feeling of power when a sense of powerlessness threatens paralysis. It can give people who have felt dishonored the belief that they have special knowledge, that they're in the know and have access to hidden truths not available to the rest of us, that they can see patterns that don't actually exist. For people with high levels of paranoia, conspiracy theories can be a comfort, and the dopamine rush they provide can be addictive. When Trump embraced the establishment position on the Epstein case, for the first time ever, he personified the deep state that his base loathes. The rest of us should take note, because this is a preview of coming attractions. Donald Trump has lit the flames of dozens of conspiracy theories during his time in politics. Those conspiracy theories bonded the MAGA movement to him. Trump's supporters saw him as the Great Disrupter; they believed he would unleash wrecking balls against institutions and norms. His transgressions, his lawlessness, even his cruelty were vivifying to his supporters. Having created that movement, Trump is discovering there's no off switch. There are precedents for such things. A l'exemple de Saturne, la révolution dévore ses enfants.
