Top Democrats Demand Release of All Epstein Files Naming Trump
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, along with 15 more of the 19 Democrats on the committee, demanded in a letter Tuesday that Attorney General Pam Bondi release “Epstein file” documents mentioning President Donald Trump.
The letter, which rails against Bondi for potentially withholding information that would embarrass the president, comes as the Department of Justice earlier this week released a memo closing the case of Jeffrey Epstein, and concluding—to the chagrin of many MAGA hard-liners—that there was no list of clients maintained by the sex offender and disgraced financier.
Along with relevant Epstein documents, the House Democrats are calling for the publication of the second volume of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on the dismissed classified documents case against Donald Trump, which remains sealed despite DOJ “regulations and longstanding practice,” wrote the House Democrats.
The letter continues: “This Administration has repeatedly claimed that President Trump is ‘the most transparent and accessible president in American history.’ So far, your DOJ has not only failed to live up to this promise, but you have also consistently hidden from the American public materials and information that may be damaging to President Trump.”
It cites former Trump adviser Elon Musk’s June post on X, alleging, during his feud with the president, that Trump “is in the Epstein files.” It also mentions various Trump officials’ vows to release the files, and the administration’s distribution of the “first phase” of Epstein documents to various MAGA influencers in February (documents that turned out to be heavily redacted and largely consisting of already public information).
The DOJ memo this week, the House Democrats wrote, “raises the question of whether the White House has moved to prevent the declassification and public release of the full Epstein files because they implicate President Trump, and whether these massive redaction efforts and the withholding of the files were intended to shield your boss from embarrassing revelations within those files.”
Trump on Tuesday lashed out at a reporter for asking about the Epstein case, calling his question a waste of time. “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” Trump asked incredulously. “Are people still talking about this guy? This creep?”
Meanwhile, MAGA adherents who are steadfast in their belief in an Epstein client list are still figuring out how to cope with having been strung along by team Trump.
President Trump wants to place a 200 percent tariff on your pharmaceuticals.
“We’ll be announcing something very soon on pharmaceuticals, we’re gonna give people about a year, year and a half to come in and after that they’re gonna be tariffed. If they have to bring the pharmaceuticals into the country, the drugs, and other things, into the country they’re gonna be tariffed at a very very high rate, like 200 percent,” the president said at his Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “And we’ll give them a certain period of time to get their act together … so we’re gonna be announcing pharmaceuticals, chips, and various couple other things.”
While every Trump tariff statement should be taken with a grain of salt, this move—under the guise of forcing large pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson to manufacture in the United States and reinvigorating domestic production—will likely just raise prices, interrupt the supply chain, and ultimately hurt the patients relying on them. Pharmaceuticals are already incredibly expensive in this country. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in a year and a half.
Donald Trump gracelessly dodged a question Tuesday about weapons shipments to Ukraine, revealing that the commander-in-chief has no idea about what’s going on with his own warchest.
During a Cabinet meeting, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Trump for details about his recent flip on sending military aid to Ukraine.
“Mr. President, you want to send more weapons to Ukraine, as you said last night. Last week the Pentagon paused some shipments of weapons to Ukraine. Did you approve of that pause?” Collins asked.
“We wanted to put defensive weapons, because Putin is not—he’s not treating human beings right. He’s killing too many people,” Trump said. “So we’re sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine, and I’ve approved that.”
“So who ordered the pause last week?” Collins pressed.
“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” Trump said, but he wasn’t asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—he was asking Collins herself.
“I think that’s a question for the Pentagon,” Collins replied, as Trump moved to take another question.
COLLINS: Did you approve of the pause of weapons shipments to Ukraine?
TRUMP: We want to put defensive weapons because Putin is not treating human beings right
COLLINS: So who ordered the pause?
TRUMP: I don't know. Why don't you tell me? pic.twitter.com/N46JsMpBZZ
NBC News reported that the decision to pause weapons shipments to Ukraine was a unilateral decision by Hegseth, three congressional aides, and a former U.S. official familiar with the matter. The Trump administration claimed that their munitions stockpiles were running low—despite an analysis by senior military officials that found the levels were not yet critical.
This is the third time Hegseth has single-handedly directed the Pentagon to stop weapons shipments to Ukraine since entering office. For context, this is the same guy who once counseled Kyiv to give up its hopes of reclaiming seized territory from Russia.
In a surprise move, Trump reversed the pause Monday—much to the outrage of his supporters—saying that Ukrainians “have to be able to defend themselves.” On Tuesday, the president sounded jilted when discussing Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he was “not happy” with his supposed ally.
“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you wanna know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump © New Republic
