Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly. — Charles Addams
Attribution: The New Normal by Pat Bagley, PoliticalCartoons.com
[Pat Bagley is the staff cartoonist for The Salt Lake Tribune in Salt Lake City, Utah, and an author and illustrator of several books. His cartoons are syndicated nationally by Cagle Cartoons.]
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now for the SOTU reviews
Stephen Colbert delivers his LIVE monologue following President Trump’s record-setting State of the Union address, where the unpopular leader demonized Democrats and touted his policy that kicked millions of Americans off food stamps. Not present at the speech were the gold medal-winning women of Team USA Hockey who declined the president’s invitation and chose instead to celebrate their achievement alongside Flavor Flav in Las Vegas.
Jimmy reacts to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, the speech went on for a very long time, Trump’s popularity is at its lowest point of his second term, all of the sitting and standing got VP JD Vance all sexed up, the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team was in attendance after visiting the White House, the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team got a better offer from none other than Flavor Flav, people were betting on what Trump might say tonight, and we get the official Democratic rebuttal to Trump’s speech from none other than California Governor Gavin Newsom (Josh Meyers).
Rachel Maddow and a panel of her MS NOW colleagues discuss Donald Trump’s awkward State of the Union address, how it contrasted with the Democratic rebuttal, and how it was distinguished as much by what he left out as what he included.
Attribution: Trump Hottest Country SOTU by Rick McKee, CagleCartoons.com
[Rick worked for decades as the cartoonist for the Augusta Chronicle in Georgia. Rick also draws the syndicated, daily comic panel “Pluggers.” Rick was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, along with everybody else.]
pog, here’s pete’s take
Trump tossed out the red meat for the base that makes swing voters vomit.
I’m glad to see they’re sticking to a midterm plan only focused on MAGAts. Shows how much they’re worried about turnout.
Good morning to all who survived the last public ranting. Especially if you watched it and did not break things. I did not watch, listen or even look at twitter, FB, or anything. I dozed off around eight thirty EST watching a revenge story on YouTube.
The reviews I read are the same was what we have been reading for years. The rambling rants of a demented, delusional, diseased, senile idiot. I hope he did not gross out the House staff who were forced to be there with gas and horrible body noises (not the oral type).
“The country was just a bystander to his theatrics.”
“It’s mourning in America.”
The Trail Mix community huddled up for the longest State of the Union in history. Catch the full, unfiltered real-time reaction here:
Thx Patd. I like Pete – very smart guy. Dumbass is taking it on the chin by the fact checkers. Go figure.
Bring your take at 11am ET. The State of the Union was exactly the grease-fire we expected: a rhetorical feast designed to feed the base and keep the partisans cheering. Not a single mind was changed, but the lines were drawn deeper than ever.
I see the mainstream media is starting to report the Trump-assaulted-a-minor testimony we talked about days ago (which YouTube throttled). So far, they are finally reporting the accuser’s testimony is still hidden, but they haven’t caught up to what we discussed — that Maxwell has that evidence for blackmail potential…
Craig – For your breakdown of the SOTU chat.
BID, the “Katie Johnson” story is gradually getting legs in mainstream media. Now is the time for somebody to find her. Do we think she’s still alive?
Awwww, poor baby, Dumbass said the SCOTUS tariff decision is disappointing. I’m sure.
BTW, yellow cotton candy is not a great coif for a SOTU address.
Tom Nichols has a very insightful piece at the Atlantic on SOTU.
Nail, head.
Rick and I watched until 10:30pm. We were largely bored and couldn’t keep up with all the lies.
We should have watched the Celtics basketball game instead.
BTW… trumpie is giving the men’s hockey team goalie a medal…. he’s an NHL player for a Canadian team… the Winnipeg Jets. Bet he gets roundly booed by the fans at his next home game.
today’s meme…
From Trump’s inflated inflation stats to dogs disappearing in the snow, We’re live at 11am ET. Grab a booth at the Digital Diner 🍽️
Here’s today’s 30-sec opener…
Post speech poll (only queried speech watchers not general public). Compared to previous years.
Jamie, better than I’d have guessed
Craig,
My source for Scottish food: https://scottishgourmetusa.com/
Trump went full “off the meds” at the SOTU last night. We’re breaking down the frantic rants, the Supreme Court snubs, and the local news station in Georgia that flat-out called him a liar 5 times in one segment.
TODAY’S RUNDOWN
00:00 Intro: Testing the new chat room bugs
02:31 Al Green’s sign and Ilhan Omar’s protest
03:46 The mystery of Jamie Raskin’s tie
11:00 Rachel fact-checks Trump’s economic lies
13:10 Analysis of the President’s “Winning” rant
18:07 The Supreme Court handshake snub
27:52 Life updates: Diamond painting and haggis
42:35 Savannah GA station calls Trump a liar
57:42 Is this resignation territory? New testimony
01:04:34 James Talarico’s Texas appeal
Watch the State of the Swamp, the Digital Diner takes, here:
The media is three days behind us, but they’re finally catching up. What they haven’t realized yet? Ghislaine Maxwell has the hidden testimony the DOJ is trying to bury.
Watch this moment in today’s Trail Mix podcast:
On this day in History:
Hiram Revels is first African American US Senator
After two days of heated debate on the floor of the US Senate, and with spectators packing the Senate galleries to see this groundbreaking event, a former Union Army chaplain, Mississippi’s Hiram Revels is sworn in as that state’s US senator.
The storm clouds continue to gather. MSN
OK, they were blue-leaning districts, but they were also special election that GOTV can steal from the leaning party.
Rep. Al Green’s silent protest at the State of the Union was a moment the cameras couldn’t ignore—until he was escorted out.
Watch the viral scene and our breakdown of the fallout in today’s podcast:
Amorally speaking.
Just this one
https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/flavor-flav-supporting-athletes-long-invite-u-s-womens-hockey-team.html/
Flavor Flav Has Been Supporting Athletes Long Before His Invite to the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team
The U.S. women’s hockey team won’t be attending the State of the Union as Donald Trump’s guests, and Flavor Flav offered an alternate celebration for the gold medal-winning athletes. Flav’s invitation to the hockey team is the latest example of his support for professional athletes.
In recent years, he has financially supported a number of Olympians. In a follow-up post, Flav added that he would invite the U.S. bobsled and skeleton team as well. He is the official hype man of the team.
He also helped fund the U.S. women’s water polo team’s efforts in the 2024 Olympics. After team captain Maggie Steffens posted about many of the athletes needing to work multiple jobs to support their Olympic dreams, Flav threw his support behind the team.
“AYYY YOOO,,, as a girl dad and supporter of all women’s sports – imma personally sponsor you my girl,,, whatever you need,” he wrote in response. “And imma sponsor the whole team. My manager is in touch with your agent and imma use all my relationships and resources to help all y’all even more. That’s a FLAVOR FLAV promise.”
In 2024, he also covered discus thrower Veronica Fraley’s rent after she said she couldn’t afford it.
***
*He’s got companies lined up to sponsor the Vegas trip; Lyft, SubHub, Alaska Airlines, and I forget which hotel stepped up.
In the meantime, after the phone call with the Pedo-In-Chief, the hockey team flew into Miami because of the storm in the NE…and they went to a 24-hour strip club, then it was off to DC where tRUMP used them as a prop and fed them McDonald’s; NHL had a player’s mom (a hockey player & coach) go on the Today show to try to smooth things out yesterday morning. That didn’t work, so the NHL put up videos of the players with their daughters, using them as props.
It’s not at all common for Republican members of Congress to call on one of their own to resign, especially given the GOP’s vanishingly small majority in the House. Yet, as the scandal surrounding Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales intensified this week, three of his party colleagues nevertheless called on the Texan to give up his seat.
For his part, Gonzales, who’s facing a tough primary challenge next week, spent Tuesday insisting that he will not resign.
The underlying scandal reached new heights last week when The San Antonio Express-News, Gonzales’ hometown newspaper, reported on a text message from Regina Santos-Aviles, a former aide to the congressman, who said she had an extramarital affair with Gonzales. Santos-Aviles died by suicide last year.
While these allegations against the Texas Republican have come up before, and Gonzales, a married father of six, has long denied any wrongdoing, the Express-News reported that a second former aide to the congressman came forward to say that Santos-Aviles told him about the relationship. That same aide (who asked not to be named by the Express-News, citing a fear of retaliation) provided a text message from Santos-Aviles in which she said she “had an affair with our boss.” (He shared the same evidence with The New York Times.)
This week, however, a lawyer for Santos-Aviles’ husband disclosed additional, sexually explicit text messages that the GOP congressman allegedly sent to his former aide. While MS NOW has not independently verified the authenticity of the texts, they were reviewed in detail by the Times, the Express-News, The Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Politico and The Texas Tribune.
As for Donald Trump, the president formally endorsed Gonzales last week, and to date, his support for the incumbent lawmaker remains intact.
Ivy
Years back in my drunken youth when I hung out with a bunch of dumptruckers. Someone noticed a resemblance between an orangutang and one of the group. Now Gary wore a hat. so they drew a hat on the ape. It did look like Gary. They even showed it to his 5 yr old son and he said “daddy”
I learned 2 things. One we all can at times resemble our cousins in the ape world.
And 2, Don’t hang around dump truckers.
Jack
https://article.wn.com/view/2025/09/04/What_were_they_paying_off_Lauren_Boebert_warns_GOP_colleague/
‘What were they paying off?’ Lauren Boebert warns GOP colleagues not safe with new push (article from several months ago, while pushing for release of Epstein files)
“…as she [Boebert] aims squarely at Congress’ sexual misconduct “slush fund” amid a bipartisan House effort to release documents in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case. Rep.
Lauren Boebert (R-CO) made the comments…
“Also, I think the sexual assault slush fund, members of Congress paying off staffers to be quiet, that this should be released too,”…
*Congress has a “sexual assault slush fund”? Our tax dollars?
So BiD
is she doing it out of the goodness of her heart?
Or does she think/know it will hurt more Dems than Reps
Jack
Jamie. Blue, Jack, Katie — per today’s discussion about clarifying links to our multiple platforms, Silas and I built this structure (open to suggestion):
The Main Stage link always in the menu under the TRAILMIX header above — https://trailmix.cc/chat — goes to a single page with three big blue buttons to each platform at the very top.
CAM/MIC: Step onto the guest stage to speak on air.
YOUTUBE: Watch the broadcast feed for live or past shows.
TEXT CHAT: Join the conversation via our Rumble Chat plugin.
Do you realize the President’s approval rating right now is only three points higher than Richard Nixon’s was just before he resigned in 1974? Here is the data behind the collapse.
Watch the moment in today’s Trail Mix podcast:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/19/jeffrey-epstein-cbp-officer-st-thomas
Guardian review of US justice department files reveals Epstein interacted with six CBP officers.
The FBI in New York opened a preliminary investigation in October 2019 after receiving a report that a long-serving CBP agricultural inspector “had ongoing friendship with Mr Epstein … while working for CBP Pre-Clearance in Saint Thomas for over 7 years”. The email establishing the investigation into the agricultural inspector, Timothy “Bill” Routch, is among the millions of files related to Epstein’s crimes that were released by the Department of Justice (DoJ) this month.
Federal authorities interviewed Epstein’s longtime pilot about the convicted sex offender’s contacts with CBP agents.
Epstein emailed and texted with CBP officers, invited them to his island, visited with them at the airport, and frequently sought to determine who was going to be on duty when he was traveling through STT, the released files show. Some officers received financial advice, others, small gifts, and employment opportunities. One officer was invited to perform the steel pan drums on Little St James on multiple occasions; Epstein tasked his assistant with helping another with an interest in accounting to find mentorship. That agent solicited Epstein for a “hard-money loan”, though he told the Guardian the loan never materialized.
Eight years after pleading guilty to charges of child sexual exploitation, the billionaire continued to enjoy a jet-setting lifestyle, regularly travelling between his homes in New York, Florida, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands on a fleet of private jets.
Travel between the mainland US and his compound on Little St James was complicated. Flights to St Thomas were treated like domestic flights, but flights departing St Thomas for a US airport had to clear customs and immigration control.
Epstein and his personal pilot, Larry Visoski, typically expedited this process by “pre-clearing” in St Thomas.
Indyke, Epstein’s longtime lawyer, sent a formal complaint to the Department of Homeland Security’s private aircraft support office, noting that “in the course of N212JE’s numerous flights between St Thomas and Teterboro, and St Thomas and West Palm Beach, there has been a lack of uniformity in the clearance and pre-arrival requirements imposed by local CBP offices at each of those locations, and, at times, by different CPB officers within them”.
But while Indyke was going through official channels, Epstein was taking a more direct approach. The billionaire emailed James Heil, a supervisory CBP officer based on St Thomas. “One off the passengers . a woman with an asylum application pending, work authorization and a social secirity card, was asked for her passport and in it given a B 2 tourist visa,” Epstein complained. (Epstein’s communications are littered with punctuation and spelling errors.) “The other passenger was stamped in as well , though they did not change her departure date.”
Heil offered to reach a supervisor “up there”, and said: “I apologize that you are experiencing these issues again.” It’s not clear what actions, if any, Heil took from there.
Records of Epstein’s direct interactions with the six CBP officers are mingled amid the bold-faced names that have dominated coverage of Epstein’s circle of influence. A memorandum of Epstein’s May 2013 schedule, included in an email to Indyke, records appointments with Mort Zuckerman, Leon Black, Bob Kerrey, Joel Klein, Joi Ito, Woody and Soon Yi Allen, and Tom Pritzker – as well as “Customs Agent Bill Routch”.
In March 2019, Epstein appears to have asked Martinez for help or advice in obtaining a new passport, writing: “can i call you , ? not sure =hat to do, i need to get a new passport with the sex identifier on =t. is it ok to travel back and forth to the Virigi= islands without a valid passport?” Epstein made three attempts to meet with Martinez at the airport in the ensuing weeks, though it’s not clear if they met or why Epstein would turn to a CBP officer for help obtaining a passport.
Epstein was arrested at Teterboro airport on federal sex-trafficking charges on 6 July 2019, after flying in from Paris.
The emails provide extensive communication between Epstein and a St Thomas CBP agent, Alford Richards, with whom Epstein arranged more than a dozen meetings between 2015 and 2019. It is not clear how many actually occurred.
A July 2020 email memorialized notes from an initial conversation between federal prosecutors and attorneys for Visoski, who was asked about Epstein’s contact with Routch.
The memo suggests that investigators were investigating CBP’s potential awareness of Epstein’s criminal activity.
“Sometimes EPSTEIN would be traveling with a female who had a foreign passport,” it states. “EPSTEIN would argue with CBP that this did not pose a CUSTOMS issue and that it was an immigration issue only … Some passengers on EPSTEIN’s plane were college students with a letter from their college stating their purpose for travel. When questioned by CBP, EPSTEIN would intervene and argue about the fact that the plane had not left United States territory. Sometimes a CBP officer would take the passenger into another room to be interviewed … VISOSKI was not aware of any special benefits or gifts given to any CBP officers. VISOSKI had no knowledge of any CBP officer assisting EPSTEIN in trafficking underage passengers.”
According to the memo, Routch described ingratiating himself with Epstein through “mak[ing] sure he was being treated with fairness and respect by non-white US CBP personnel”, but said he never offered or received any special favors. Routch, who is white, told investigators that there was a “great deal of racial tension” in the Virgin Islands, and that “the ‘blacks’ disrespect the local white population”, prompting his concern for Epstein’s treatment. He said Epstein wanted to buy new computers for the CBP offices, as well as turkeys for CBP staff, but was told by a supervisor that they could not accept gifts.
Routch denied any knowledge or involvement with trafficking underage girls, but said he was aware of Epstein’s criminal conviction and that he assumed that “eastern European women who took commercial flights to the USVI” were heading for Epstein’s island, according to the memo. When he visited the island for lunch in 2013, he claimed to see “three or four ‘nice’, ‘beautiful’ women swimming and having fun” but “did not notice anything unusual nor did he notice anybody who appeared to be in trouble”.
“EPSTEIN always had older ladies with him, maybe in their 20s or 30s,” he said.
*Ghislaine, perhaps…but this is the patriarchal pedophilia making itself known-> “Older ladies…maybe in their 20s or 30s.”
Jack -Like most women I know, I don’t think Boebert gives a flying F anymore. Burn it all down.
I think the rage at the men’s hockey team is being underestimated, too. Their private (they thought) behavior was on display. Talk one way about women when you know someone’s watching, but let your guard down when it’s not and laugh at them.
Not one sentence for swing voters last night..
Johnson, who appeared anonymously at first under the pseudonym “Jane Doe,” eventually planned to speak publicly. A press conference was scheduled in Los Angeles where she was expected to tell her story on camera for the first time. Reporters had assembled, legal teams were present, and the country’s political climate was at its most volatile.
Then, suddenly, she didn’t appear.
Her attorney announced that Johnson had received a surge of threats—violent, alarming, and specific enough that she withdrew from the public eye entirely. The lawsuit was dropped. No further public statements were made. And Katie Johnson effectively vanished.
Her story is often invoked by survivor advocates who argue that many voices surrounding Epstein were erased before they were ever heard. They point to sealed court documents, closed-door deals, and powerful connections that protected names for years. Johnson’s withdrawal, they say, is symbolic of how alleged victims can be pushed into the shadows long before the truth can be examined.
https://www.eonline.com/news/1428962/bill-gates-admits-to-affairs-jeffrey-epstein-ties-in-apology?cmpid=sn-syndicate-aolfeed-us-
Bill Gates is attempting to clear his conscience.
After the Microsoft co-founder was named in files released by the United States Department of Justice pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein, he disclosed his past infidelity while addressing his relationship to the late, disgraced financier.
“It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein,” Gates said in a town hall conversation with Bill Gates Foundation employees during a Feb. 24 Town Hall, per the Wall Street Journal. “To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him.”
“I did have affairs,” Gates continued. “One with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities.”
*Clear his conscience? Nah. Clear his name…which is impossible at this point. Affairs with Russians? Dude, you were their mark.
Media finally getting around to asking what I’ve been yammering about for ages. Why were all these very wealthy and/or men giving Epstein billions of dollars to invest around the globe when he had little expertise in financial management?
https://www.newsweek.com/fbi-raid-lausd-superintendent-alberto-carvalho-los-angeles-11582691
TODAY:
Federal agents executed search warrants at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) downtown headquarters and at Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s San Pedro home on Wednesday, law enforcement officials said.
The FBI did not disclose the focus of the probe, citing sealed affidavits, and LAUSD did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
LAUSD is the nation’s second-largest school district, serving more than 500,000 students across more than two dozen cities. The district operates hundreds of schools and educational programs across the region.
FOX 11 reported that aerial footage showed agents entering and exiting Carvalho’s residence carrying boxes, but the contents and evidentiary significance of the items were not known.
***
https://nypost.com/2026/02/17/us-news/los-angeles-unified-superintendent-alberto-carvalho-is-a-critic-of-ice-lausd-chief-jim-mcdonnell-wants-protesting-students-to-chill/
PREVIOUSLY:
LA’s schools boss has been condemned for his anti-ICE rants as more students across the city prepare to walk out of classrooms to protest against illegal immigration crackdowns.
Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is one of the nation’s top educators. He’s also a been a very vocal critic of federal immigration enforcement.
“Immoral, unethical and illegal,” is how he characterized some of the federal government’s tactics at a press conference in September.
*I’m sure the FBI raid is ~totally not retribution~ for standing up to ICE N&zis
Jake Tapper doing the minor assault accusation against Trump
Knock knock.
Who’s there?
They’re going to do everything in their power to steal the election, that’s who.
The Les Wexner testimony last week was very telling, in that Republicans steered clear and Wexner’s attorney basically told him to shut up.
AG Bill Barr’s dad (who wrote a creepy sex slave book) gave Epstein a teaching job at a private academy, although he had no degree. Why?
Wexner set him up financially. Why?
Oh, and the pedophilia with Wexner goes way back, and there’s a Chicago tie so, sorry JB but between that and the cousin, you’re toast.
Craig,
Those link labels look good. I’ll have to give the YouTube a try the next time you go live.
I do know the Orlando lawyer who handled “Katie Johnson” lawsuit, Cheney Mason. covered a few of his trials.
Let’s find him! Probably well into his ’80s by now. See if he’ll join us at the diner.
They have neither principles, scruples, nor shame of any kind to hinder them on their mad dash to utter ruination.
It’s not enough for them to be filthy rich. They also have to Fix Everything so that everybody else is filthy poor.
“Hey! There’s a guy over there with a pot to piss in! Shoot him! Shoot him!”
Jamie, youtube link structure is maddeningly complex, and they constantly make unannounced changes.
We think the link we’re using in that button on The Main Stage is as good as it gets, goes to a playlist of Digital Diners in chronological order, beginning with the most recently scheduled.
It is a monster link, which is why it’s best to hyperlink on a button:
https://patricemersault.substack.com/p/trumps-drug-use-a-chemically-compromised
Trump’s Drug Use: A Chemically Compromised Commander-in-Chief
How His Reckless Substance Abuse Fuels Paranoia, Impulsivity, and Threatens National Stability
The Road to the Texas Senate Runs Through a Bull’s Ass 🐂🗳️
Forget beltway optics and teleprompters. The real battle for the Texas Senate primary (March 3) is happening in the dirt at the San Antonio Rodeo.
PLUS: It’s Look-Back Thursday! C-SPAN’s Howard “Extreme” Mortman returns to the diner. We’re digging into the archives to define the infamous “Sistah Souljah moment”—a phrase you hear constantly but probably don’t know the real story behind.
Grab your coffee and your boots. We’re live at 11 AM ET.
👉 Join the Diner: https://trailmix.cc/chat
Get notified on YouTube…
Bay of Quiet Piggy about to go down.
https://www.newsweek.com/fl7726sh-boat-everything-we-know-about-vessel-involved-in-cuba-shooting-11583843
Oh, the resident MAGA says the economy was good until the Supreme Court undid his tariffs.
We buy groceries at the same store. WTF?
Craig – The other thing about the Katie Johnson case (listed as “Jane Doe”) there was a witness (I guess that’s what you’d call her) whose name was listed as “Tiffany Doe.”
https://factually.co/fact-checks/justice/tiffany-doe-what-did-she-claim-trump-sexual-assault-case-6bb70c
Tiffany Doe is a pseudonymous witness who, in sworn declarations filed with lawsuits accusing Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein of sex crimes, said she recruited and witnessed underage girls at Epstein’s parties and personally witnessed multiple sexual assaults of the plaintiff (Jane/Katie Johnson) by Trump and Epstein; those filings allege the assaults occurred in the mid‑1990s and include claims that Trump threatened the victim’s life [1] [2] [3]. The New York refiled complaint and contemporaneous reporting state Tiffany Doe asserted she was hired to recruit adolescent women, saw four episodes involving the plaintiff and Trump, and corroborated the plaintiff’s account [2] [4] [5].
Blue, surely all the women with knowledge about this can’t be just completely “disappeared”? Somebody’s gonna show up.
A bit tone deaf, ya think
https://www.rawstory.com/jd-vance-2675335303/
Vance said on Wednesday that the Trump administration is pausing certain Medicaid payments to Minnesota in response to allegations of fraud in the state’s social services programs. Vance said the move was to ensure the state “takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.”
*Kashewnut & Noem have wasted more taxpayer dollars on their lifestyle, propaganda videos, and business & personal travel. The DHS budget is obscene & they want more.
I’m assuming “Tiffany Doe” got an immunity for her corroborating testimony since she was a pimp or groomer. There has to be more in her.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/nancy-mace-force-vote-release-congress-sexual-misconduct-reports-rcna260665
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace plans to force a House vote next week on her resolution to release sexual misconduct and harassment reports involving members of Congress, she told NBC News on Wednesday.
The South Carolina congresswoman’s resolution would require the House Ethics Committee to release all sexual misconduct or harassment reports involving members or their staffers.
She introduced it after numerous outlets, including NBC News, revealed that GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, sent sexually explicit text messages to a former aide with whom he allegedly had an affair. The aide later died by suicide and an attorney for her husband confirmed the authenticity of the texts to NBC News.
What exactly does the Digital Diner crew do to decompress from politics? Katie breaks down her highly intense daily routine: video games, true crime documentaries, and the mysterious art of “diamond painting.”
Watch the moment in today’s Trail Mix podcast:
BiD, sounds like your person has a bad case of ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder).
DOJ Scrambles, Trump Accuser Files Missing
After multiple news outlets highlighted discrepancies in the massive file release, today the Justice Department has officially addressed the missing witness testimony regarding Ghislaine Maxwell.
The DOJ posted a statement confirming they are actively investigating the gaps in their release:
They followed up by stating that if they determine any document was improperly withheld and is responsive to the transparency law mandating the files’ release, “the Department will of course publish it, consistent with the law.”
The Facts Behind the Missing Files:
— Silas
Normal is a setting on the dryer.
https://www.rawstory.com/epstein-files-missing/
Epstein survivor Jess Michaels, who sat in the gallery as Bondi testified on Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, said she has not heard from the DOJ and has had to ask for outside helphelp in tracking down the trail of documents she provided to the FBI.
“Have you been contacted or interviewed for any of these pending investigations? And have you heard from Pam Bondi’s office since her appearance on Capitol Hill?”
“No, we have heard nothing. And I am one of the people that’s 302 [ the official form used by agents to summarize witness interviews ] is missing,” Michaels replied. “And I have been working with a journalist.”
“They have reached out to the FBI –– there is an email exchange between me and FBI agent, Special Agent Amanda Young that shows that we had just spoken, and I had given important information about a potential co-conspirator, and we can’t find my 302.”
“We can’t find the dozens of emails that were sent when I, the first time that I reached out to the FBI, it was in September of 2019. And then it would take a year and a half for that agent, Special Agent Amanda Young, to actually take a victim statement. And now that statement can’t be found in the files.”
“I was told that my victim statement would be used in the prosecution’s case against Ghislaine Maxwell. And when they explain what that process would look like, they were saying that interestingly, they would have to redact all of the identifying information except my name because the defense was trying to release victims names long before the trial in order to intimidate us, which, interestingly, seems to be the same tactic that’s being used right now.”
*Here’s another one, Craig. She’s alive & talking.
But she isn’t accusing Trump of anything, right? That’s the game changer
The end of Citizens United? Wyoming and California are putting the repeal of dark money directly on their state ballots. If it passes, it could trigger a massive legal showdown before the next election.
Watch the moment in today’s Trail Mix podcast:
True, but the tie in is WHERE are missing documents?
Yep, gotta think they disappeared in that mysterious “flood” at Mar-a-Lago
https://www.narativ.org/p/decrypted-sweet-16-journal-in-epstein
Because the journal was partially written in code, it provides a rare list of names of alleged abusers—many of whom remain redacted in other parts of the public files. The author describes violent or threatening encounters with several high-profile individuals, including:
Leon Black: Former CEO of Apollo Global Management.
Joe Gibbs: Former Washington Redskins coach.
Dan Snyder: Former Washington Redskins owner.
Larry Summers: Former Harvard President.
George Mitchell: Former Senate Majority Leader (previously named by Virginia Giuffre).
Ted Leonsis & Steve Case: AOL executives.
Bob Goodlatte & Charles J. Colgan: Former Virginia lawmakers.
Joseph & Jill Robert: Noted financiers.
Prince Andrew
The diary adds weight to previous allegations involving underage victims. While the president has consistently denied all claims—stating he knew Epstein for 15 years but never participated in such activities—this journal is one of several documents in the DOJ trove that references his alleged presence at these events.
While the diary has been corroborated by attorneys representing other victims, the identity of the journal keeper or keepers— there may have been several—remains unknown.
*This is not the journal I was looking for, but it’s important because being written in code caused missing redacting names.
The other journal (and I posted about it a few nights after the last document dump) is important because it places tRUMP as a trafficker of girls to, in that case, Saudis. The diary writer says her father and investigators went to the house in NJ where she was held and verified she had clawed her way out. So, where are the reports from the investigators who went there with her father?
thought so!
Same pattern. All of the usual suspects. Whatever hacking group accesses more and makes a global dump will be a hero. Well, it didn’t work out so well for Julian Assange, but dump and run.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1p251h4/i_built_a_graph_visualization_of_relationships/
sorry wasn’t trying to disrupt your flow, here’s some grist
Anon – That is amazing.
The other thing that needs unraveled is all of the adoption agencies (or traffickers posing as agencies) that are involved. The Eudow Kirk’s Romanian Angels; the Romanian agency of the pedofile pastor’s church she’s on tour with; the kids2families tied to the Susan Hamblin email giving Epstein her “permission to kill him”; and Sascha Riley who was adopted to be trafficked and is willing to testify.
They might try searching that piece of swampland near Sebring, FL that Adolf never improved; he just pays property tax and it sits. Might need cadaver dogs.
direct link to Epstein Visualizer:
https://epsteinvisualizer.com/
NEW THREAD
Craig,
Always like Peter Marshall’s view of Jesus
Craig,
Richard Todd as Peter Marshall