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Summary A few Republicans join Democrats in criticizing Epstein release as inadequate Justice Department missed deadline for full Epstein file disclosure Critics say redactions fuel conspiracy theories, erode Trump support The U.S. Justice Department released a partial, heavily redacted set of Epstein-related files on December 19-20, 2025, missing a congressional deadline for full disclosure under a bipartisan law signed by President Trump in November. The release included approximately 300,000 pages of documents, photos, and materials, with extensive redactions—including entirely blacked-out sections—and featured prominent references to former President Bill Clinton but few to Trump. Criticism came from both parties: Democrats accused...

SummaryAnkush Khardori, a POLITICO Magazine senior writer and former federal prosecutor, provides guidance on navigating the Justice Department's release of Epstein investigation files, mandated by a law signed by President Trump with a Friday deadline. The release involves over 300 gigabytes of data, including electronic devices, documents, logs, financial records, FBI interview summaries (302s), and internal communications, excluding child pornography material. Full compliance may take weeks due to volume. Khardori warns the release is unlikely to end Epstein conspiracy theories. Five rules:Don’t Read the Files Directly: Avoid drawing conclusions from isolated items; rely on reputable journalists for context, as raw...

The ammunition boxes stacked on the stage opened up to reveal figurines of angels and an infant Jesus lying in his manger. Six actors sang plaintive carols, accompanied by readings of the brooding poetry of Kharkiv writer Serhiy Zhadan. The audience sat, transfixed by the almost unbearable intensity of the spectacle. The nativity play, performed on a recent evening at Kharkiv’s puppet theatre, was a reminder that conflict has seeped into the fabric of almost everything in Ukrainian life over the past four years. “We can’t just put on comedies and escape from reality,” said Oksana Dmitrieva, the nativity play’s...

Thank you, Wyoming! Serving our state has been the honor of my life. - Cynthia Lummis

We've spent several hours scanning through datasets of documents released by the Department of Justice. Here's what we've learned so far... "Thank you for believing me, I feel redeemed" That's what Maria Farmer, one of Epstein's earliest accusers, says in a statement to the BBC about her 1996 complaint to the FBI being included in the files today. In that complaint, Farmer said Epstein stole personal photos she took of her 12-year-old and 16-year-old sisters. She believed he sold the photos to potential buyers, and said he threatened to burn her house down if she told anyone about it, the...

SummaryThe discussion centers on Venezuela being described as a mafia-run, cartel-controlled state rather than a legitimate government, heavily involved in narco-trafficking with Marxist allies in Honduras as a transit point, importing massive quantities of drugs into the US and causing American deaths.Key points raised:Actions against Venezuela are framed as stopping drug trafficking, Chinese influence, and related threats, not regime change or foreign wars.Claims of substantial evidence that a Venezuela-affiliated election machine company interfered in US 2020 and 2024 elections, with references to connected machines, manipulable data, and cases like Tina Peters.Chinese Communist Party has a sophisticated spy base and missiles...

President Donald Trump signs an executive order to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug SummaryPresident Trump signed an executive order on December 18, 2025, directing agencies to expedite the rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, facilitating expanded medical research while not legalizing it nationwide. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz announced that the CMS Innovation Center is launching models allowing millions of Medicare beneficiaries to access doctor-recommended hemp-derived CBD products at no cost starting as early as April 2026, provided products meet state and local quality/safety standards and come from legitimate sources. Patients...

Almost two years after a Democrat-elected prosecutor secured a conviction against then-candidate Donald Trump, a New York appeals court could decide soon on the appeal of the Manhattan felony conviction. “There is no upside for the courts to string this along. So, we could see a ruling soon,” said Dan Backer, counsel for the watchdog group Coolidge Reagan Foundation, who co-wrote an amicus brief filed Monday and first shared with The Daily Signal. The brief, filed in the First Department Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, calls for reversal of Trump’s conviction. ... Bragg’s team argued that Trump’s...

This announcement (Dan Bongino's resignation from the FBI) does not come as a surprise to those follow the details of corrupt systems closely and who have watched the scale of the problems surface through the years.The problems within the FBI as an institution are systemic. Both Kash Patel and Dan Bongino faced a monumental challenge in trying to get their arms around the scale of the problem within the institution. There is no apple, only worms. Any type of institutional confrontation at this scale can only succeed if the problems are first admitted. Bongino faced a big challenge with Director...

Secretary of Wars statements on reforms regards the chaplaincy in the DOW. https://www.facebook.com/reel/921466543875201/?mibextid=ZZyLBr

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, will be renamed the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. The prestigious Washington, D.C., cultural center’s board of trustees, who were appointed by President Donald Trump in February, “have just voted unanimously” on the name change, Leavitt said in an X post. They did so “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building,” Leavitt said. “Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be...

The Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees voted to rename the performing arts institution the Trump-Kennedy Center, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was established by Congress as the national center for performing arts and a living memorial to the late President John F. Kennedy and opened its doors in 1971. It recognizes achievements in music, theater and dance each year with its honors ceremony.

WASHINGTON — President Trump came out swinging against his predecessor in a rare address to the nation while touting the progress he’s made this year — saying that the best is yet to come in 2026. “Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” Trump declared Wednesday night in a year-end recap beamed live into millions of homes. “We had the worst trade deals ever made, and our country was laughed at from all over the world, but they’re not laughing anymore.” Donald Trump at a podium, delivering an end-of-year address, flanked by Christmas trees and American...

The criticisms against Sec. of War Pete Hegseth are “entirely political,” and anyone could have said the same things about “the Obama and Biden administration—and much more egregiously.” Hegseth has turned the U.S. military around in ways no one thought was possible, like getting the military back to meeting all of its recruiting quotas, explains Hanson during today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.” Recruitment under the Biden administration fell “some 40 to 50,000 recruits,” and former Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin’s Pentagon used excuses like “people are out of shape, in gangs, using drugs, etc.”

Dan Bongino on Wednesday confirmed he is resigning from the FBI. Bongino said he will be leaving the FBI in January. Full statement on X: I will be leaving my position with the FBI in January. I want to thank President Trump, AG Bondi, and Director Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose. Most importantly, I want to thank you, my fellow Americans, for the privilege to serve you. God bless America, and all those who defend Her. Shortly before Bongino made his official announcement, President Trump appeared to confirm Bongino’s departure from the FBI in remarks to reporters....

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is preparing to quit the Trump administration in the next few weeks, according to a report. Bongino has started boxing up 'knick-knacks' from his office in Washington, DC, and sending them back to Florida, where he plans to return to work as a pro-Trump broadcaster ahead of the midterm elections, sources told The New York Times. The former podcaster and Fox News host gave up a lucrative media career earlier this year to join the Trump administration. However, his brief tenure has been marked by a public ambivalence about the role, as well as internal...

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino will resign his position with less than a year on the job — after reportedly packing up his belongings and bidding adieu to his team. “I will be leaving my position with the FBI in January,” Bongino announced on social media Wednesday night. “I want to thank President Trump, AG Bondi, and Director Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose. Most importantly, I want to thank you, my fellow Americans, for the privilege to serve you. God bless America, and all those who defend Her.” SNIP A different source said that it’s understood that...

Dan Bongino has said he will leave his role as the FBI's deputy director in January. "I want to thank President Trump, AG (Pam) Bondi, and Director (Kash) Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose," Bongino wrote on X. It comes after US President Donald Trump said earlier on Wednesday the former podcast host "did a great job" in office, and "wants to go back to his show". Bongino, who was appointed to the role by Donald Trump in February, was previously a New York City police officer and a US Secret Service agent. In recent years, he built...

President Trump unleashed a new addition to the Presidential Walk of Fame in the White House Rose Garden, where portraits of all 47 US Presidents are displayed.Trump famously replaced the picture of Joe Biden with an autopen, taking a jab at the 46th President for not actually running the White House but ceding his power to those around him, who took illegal executive actions with the Biden signature affixed by a robotic signature machine.Reporters in the White House noticed this morning newly placed plaques under the photographs, which gave a Trump White House-crafted biography of the President.Biden and Obama, both...