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Month: July 2025

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer

Published by Tom Sullivan on July 15, 2025

Whose heads is she in right this minute?

On the heels of a firestorm of MAGA criticism of Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, demands for AG Pam Bondi’s firing, and Trump’s crazed demands that everyone stop talking about Epstein, The Daily Mail now claims that Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving 20 years for sex-trafficking young girls for him, “is willing to speak in front of Congress about The Epstein Files.”

Maxwell’s silver hammer threatens to come down on several heads. If she lives to see the day. Social media already predicts “Ghislaine Maxwell didn’t hang herself next week.”

Bondi’s DOJ and FBI memo released last week on the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation declared, “While we have labored to provide the public with maximum information regarding Epstein and ensured examination of any evidence in the government’s possession, it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.” The memo refutes conspiracy theories that Epstein was murdered in jail to keep him quiet. “Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his cell,” the memo insists.

Trump’s MAGA minions heard, “Client list? What client list?” Donald promised them a client list. MAGA’s QAnon contingent knew in their dark hearts that releasing Epstein’s rumored little black book of contacts/clients/blackmail victims would prove the existence of a shadowy, international cabal of Satan-worshipping, blood-drinking, cannibalistic pedophiles made up mostly of Democrats.

Or maybe it was Epstein co-conspirator Maxwell’s book? Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) responded to the DOJ memo with skepticism, citing a 2021 Times of London report on her “97-page book, containing the names and contact details of almost 2,000 people including world leaders, celebrities and businessmen” that jurors had seen in her trial. The prosecution and defense agreed never to make it public.

Whatever. Per The Daily Mail’s anonymous source claims:

Now a source said: ‘Despite the rumors, Ghislaine was never offered any kind of plea deal. She would be more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story.

‘No-one from the government has ever asked her to share what she knows. She remains the only person to be jailed in connection to Epstein and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth.’

What once was simmering is now at a boil:

The Epstein ‘cover-up’ was also a main topic of conversation among attendees of this weekend’s Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida, hosted by the conservative group Turning Point USA , an organization many credit with rallying Trump’s young base before last year’s presidential election.

Sharon Allen, an attendee, told NBC News: ‘It’s not even about Pam Bondi to me. It’s like, look, Trump, we elected you because you were supposed to be different. So you have to prove to us you’re different.’

They want their pedophile ring and will damned well have it. Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon told Turning Point that Trump should appoint a special prosecutor to further investigate the Epstein case. He recommends former Florida representative Matt Gaetz who, some may remember, resigned after “a congressional ethics committee report released last year found he regularly paid women for sex; had sex with a 17-year-old; broke Florida’s statutory rape laws; and frequently used illegal drugs.” Yes way.

Naturally, Trump’s weekend rant fuels rumors — denied by MAGA and fanned by Elon Musk — that Trump himself is heavily implicated in the Epstein files as party to Epstein’s sex parties.

Trump pal Roger Stone says bring it on to the Maxwell testimony proposal.

“Personally, I like the news that Epstein’s pimp Maxwell is ready to testify before Congress. Bill and Hillary [the Clintons] are going to be very embarrassed. She has nothing on Trump,” Stone insists.

Bill Kristol on Sunday spoke with reporter Julie K. Brown about her findings in the case. He writes, “She was almost single-handedly responsible for the re-opening of the Jeffrey Epstein sexual abuse case with her 2018 reporting.” She is unconvinced that Epstein committed suicide.

For her part, Maxwell is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss her conviction on the grounds that she was covered by the same unprecedented non-prosecution deal Epstein won in Florida (ABC News):

Maxwell, 63, had urged the court earlier this year to review her case, arguing that an unusual co-conspirator’s clause in Epstein’s 2007 non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida barred her subsequent prosecution in New York. A district court and a federal appeals court previously rejected that argument, and the DOJ today urged the high court to do the same.

This is so much tabloid titillation, I know. But amidst the gossip and conspiracy talk, what’s important for those worried about our slide toward dictatorship is that Trump’s teflon is well scratched by this controversy. The Epstein controversy has cut him over the eye. And what do we do when our opponent is cut over the eye?

Work the eye.

(h/t SB)

Update:

Trump acknowledging he's been briefed on Epstein files but then saying the documents were made up by Obama and Biden is an extremely strong indicator that he's covering up something

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-07-15T17:57:20.895Z

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Have you fought dictatorship today?

Good Trouble Lives On (Thursday July 17, in memory of John Lewis)
The Resistance Lab
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Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink
You Have Power
Chop Wood, Carry Water
Thirty lonely but beautiful actions
Attending a Protest Surveillance Self-Defense

That Nobel Prize Is Right Around The Corner

Published by digby on July 14, 2025

That’s pretty much it. He says he’s sending Patriot missiles to Ukraine and giving Russia 50 days to straighten up and fly right or he’ll hit ’em with the tariffs. Of course, we have virtually no trade with Russia but it’s the thought that counts.

And Gaza’s going very well so that’s good. As soon as they get that oceanfront property away from the Palestinians, some great deals can be made.

Meanwhile, another day, another horror:

Ten people, many of them children, were killed in a strike at a water distribution site in central Gaza on Sunday, local health officials said, in a deadly incident the Israeli military said was the result of a “technical error” with a munition.

“Thirsty children, searching for water to quench their thirst. They returned to their homes as lifeless corpses,” said Ramadan Nassar, a witness who lives in the Nuseirat area.

The Israel Defense Forces said it launched “a strike targeting an Islamic Jihad terrorist” on Sunday, but that “as a result of a technical error with the munition, the munition fell dozens of meters from the target.”

The Abortion War Isn’t Over

Published by digby on July 14, 2025

Trump’s bringing in the big guns:

As a journalist who covers reproductive rights, I’ve spent the first six months of Donald Trump’s second term waiting for the other shoe to drop on abortion. Sure, the president has pardoned nearly two dozen people who blockaded abortion clinics and signed a bill to kick Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid, but the administration has much more power to restrict abortion access than it’s wielded so far. 

Trump’s picks for two relatively low-profile roles may signal where his administration is headed next: In recent months, he’s appointed a pair of anti-abortion zealots to work at the influential Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice. OLC provides legal advice to the president and the entire executive branch, meaning its responsibilities include drafting legal opinions for the attorney general, reviewing executive orders and presidential proclamations, and assessing the constitutionality of pending legislation. 

In December 2022, shortly after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, the OLC under President Joe Biden notably published an opinion that abortion opponents hate. OLC opinions are considered binding across administrations, and this one said that sending abortion medications through the mail and common carriers like FedEx does not violate an 1873 law known as the Comstock Act, as long as the sender doesn’t know that the drugs will be used illegally. The Comstock Act is an anti-vice and sexual morality statute that bans the mailing of abortifacients, among other “indecent” items. But it never targeted legal abortion, and, for nearly a century, courts have interpreted it to include a medical exception. 

Anti-abortion activists, however, view Comstock as something of a skeleton key that could ban abortion pills and even prohibit all abortions nationwide. Project 2025, a conservative playbook spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, has called for the rescission of that Biden-era memo to once again permit Comstock prosecutions of what the right deems to be illegal abortions. Trump’s two recent OLC appointees are in a position where they’ll be able to do exactly that.

There’s more at the link, unfortunately. The hits just keep on coming.

There are so many atrocities happening all at once that it’s easy to lose track. But the war on women that’s going on all over the country is actually escalating. The Big Beautiful Boondoggle defunds Planned Parenthood and I think we can count on the throwbacks on the Supreme Court to uphold it. They’re the ones who unleashed this horror after all.

Jessica Valenti covers this story on her Substack called “Abortion Every Day” that’s well worth reading. It’s depressing but it does remind me that this issue is still very much relevant in the lives of countless thousands of women around the country. And if the Trump administration has its way, it’s going to get worse.

When He’s Lost The Daily Mail…

Published by digby on July 14, 2025

Yikes:

It was anticipated that the Commander-in-Chief would step aside after giving the trophy to Chelsea captain Reece James – as is customary. However, to the bewilderment of many Chelsea players, Trump remained on stage for the entire trophy lift. England hero Palmer looked especially confused by Trump’s actions and appeared to utter the words: ‘What’s he doing?’

Trump had earlier presented Palmer with the golden ball award with the 23-year-old midfielder looking as equally baffled during that presentation.  After presenting medals to both the victors and losers, the Commander-in-Chief was spotted front and center as the Blues hoisted the trophy. 

Following his presentation of the trophy to Chelsea, he was asked to leave the stage by Infantino but bizarrely chose to stay put. 

He can’t conceive of not being the center of attention at any event. It’s all about him, always.

MAGA’s Heart Is Broken

Published by digby on July 14, 2025

Dear Leader is just another deep state operative

It is very tempting to assume that the rapidly escalating right wing meltdown over the Trump Department of Justice’s dismissal of the Epstein Files affair is a fatal blow to the MAGA cult, but it’s probably best to resist it, at least for the moment. There have been so many moments which felt as if they had to be the beginning of the end that ended up being duds from which the country moved on and Trump only grew stronger. Still, this one has a characteristic that we haven’t seen before: the calls are coming from inside the house.

I don’t imagine that anyone is unfamiliar with the scandal, but to briefly recap just in case, wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, were extremely well-connected criminals who engaged in a decades long sex-trafficking of minors operation that has been shrouded in mystery and intrigue for many years. The suspicion is that because of their associations with very powerful people in politics, business and finance they were protected, either because of blackmail or friendship, and the government actively covered it up. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell, presumably by suicide, as he awaited trial while Maxwell is currently serving a 20 year sentence for conspiring with Epstein.

Obviously the devil is in the details but that’s the gist of the facts of the case. Oddly enough, considering all the documentary evidence, including public video and quotes from Donald Trump himself, the conspiracy theories around this case have become a MAGA obsession and the campaign’s promise to thoroughly investigate the case was believed by his base to be one of the most important he made.

Trump himself never seemed that eager to talk about it, however:

He had been president during the federal case that landed Epstein in jail and led to his presumed suicide so he may very well have had inside information at that point that he wouldn’t want to see exposed. (I think we can be fairly sure that if that information implicated his political enemies he would have pledged to do it with relish.) That should have set off alarm bells to his flock but as with so much else, they didn’t even notice, seeing what they wanted to see and listening more to his fervent MAGA influencers for assurance that he was going to get to the bottom of this vast conspiracy.

They had been primed for this for years by the QAnon conspiracy theory that had so dominated Trumps first term. That had a lot of tentacles but at its center was this notion that the world is run by a secret cabal of wealthy and powerful pedophiles who pull all the strings of the Deep State actors in the US Government and beyond. They are predictably said to be kidnapping and trafficking vast numbers of children to feed their depraved appetites. You’ll recall that the Pizzagate pedophile conspiracy theory pushed by some of today’s White House insiders even led one lone believer to assault a Washington DC pizza joint in order to rescue children he believed were being held captive in the basement. There were no children. There wasn’t even a basement.

You can imagine how excited they all became when Epstein was exposed back in 2018 with the publication of a three-part series in the Miami Herald revisiting his 2008 conviction for sex-trafficking that had been swept under the rug and subsequently ignored by some very powerful people who continued to associate with him. The intrepid reporter who investigated and wrote that story, Julie Brown, was motivated to look into it when President Donald Trump nominated Alex Acosta the U.S. Attorney who had given Epsten a very favorable sweetheart deal in that case to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Here was a real life, elite, pedophile sex trafficker with many, many friends in high places. Q was right! They were ecstatic when Trump’s Justice Department took up the case and arrested Epstein in 2019. Soon the world would know the whole truth. Except Jeffrey Epstein, the most high profile prisoner in the country, friend of presidents and billionaires, was somehow able to commit suicide in his cell. For an awful lot of people that didn’t pass the smell test, igniting a whole new set of conspiracy mongering.

Nonetheless, as usual, they didn’t hold Trump responsible. They didn’t even blink an eye when Trump gave well-wishes to Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell when she was arrested:

They blamed “the deep state” specifically the Department of Justice and the FBI which they already blamed for “The Russia Hoax” and alleged cover-up of crimes by Hillary Clinton. Among the most vociferous critics were the current FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino.

I think it was the appointment of those two, along with Attorney General Pam Bondi who jumped into the scandal with both feet, courting right wing influencers and promising that she was personally overseeing the investigation, that made MAGA true believers believe that they were about to get their hands on the Holy Grail or as right wing pundit Glenn Beck said last week, “the Rosetta Stone of public trust.” These new appointees were the very people who had been chasing this scandal for years and they were now in a position to blow the lid off of the whole thing and all those who mocked the MAGA movement as kooks would be proven fools.

When the DOJ released the letter over the July 4th holiday saying there’s no there there, it was a slap in the face to the MAGA faithful. They were stunned. And when Trump rudely dismissed their concerns in a cabinet meeting and then admonished them on Truth Social in a long rant blaming Obama and Clinton, demanding that they focus on the scandals he wants them to focus on, the crushing betrayal was personal. Never before has a Trump post received such a massive negative response on his own platform.

Even Fox News is hostile as are his most loyal influencers:

Trumps loyal base has taken all that heat for so long, defending Trump through everything, and now it appears that their Dear Leader is just another Deep State operative covering up the crimes of his accomplices — and possibly his own. They are confused and angry and inconsolable.

I don’t know if this will stick. Have they had a mass epiphany and collectively awakened to the fundamental dishonesty and corruption of the man they worshipped for the past ten years? It’s hard to believe.

Maybe it will all dissipate like so many other Trump scandals. But we’ve never seen one like this before. This Judas kiss went straight to the heart of their deepest convictions and shattered it into little pieces. Will they be able to forgive and move on?

Update —

I’d forgotten about this one. I think the cult needs a little reminder, don’t you?

Salon

The Ukraine War Is His Now

Published by digby on July 14, 2025

Trump’s mad at Vlad for not doing what he wants (which wasn’t much) so he’s decided to take Ukraine’s side at long last according to Axios:

President Trump will announce a new plan to arm Ukraine on Monday that is expected to include offensive weapons, two sources with knowledge of the plans tell Axios.

 Sending offensive weapons would be a major shift for Trump, who had until recently been at pains to say he would provide only defensive weapons to avoid escalating the conflict.

  • U.S., Ukrainian and European officials hope the weapons will shift the trajectory of the war and change Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calculations regarding a ceasefire.
  • Two sources told Axios they had reason to believe the plan was likely to include long-range missiles that could reach targets deep inside Russian territory, including Moscow. However, neither was aware of any final decision.
  • “Trump is really pissed at Putin. His announcement tomorrow is going to be very aggressive,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Axios.

The Europeans are paying for the U.S.-made weapons which Trump will no doubt hype as yet another fabulous of his “deals.” Whatever.

According to Axios, Zelensky is the one who came up with the plan and proposed it to Trump at the NATO meeting. An official told them that because Zelensky didn’t “act crazy” and was dressed in a suit it really made a difference.

They also report that in the July 3rd phone call that made Trump so angry Putin made it clear that he planned to escalate the war even though Trump (or Whiskey Pete) had paused the shipments to Ukraine.

“He wants to take all of it,” Trump told French President Emmanuel Macron shortly after his call with Putin, according to a source with direct knowledge.

No shit.

That Iran bombing made Trump feel like real man and he wants some more of that. I think it’s the right move but he should have been helping Ukraine from the moment he came into office instead of relying on this ridiculous puerile notion that Putin was his good buddy and would do as he told him because they are some kind of partners in peace.

I won’t be surprised to see Putin pull back a bit to make Trump feel like he won something. He knows how to pull Trump’s strings. But it won’t change his objectives. Everyone in Europe knows what they are — actually, every sentient being knows what they are. Unfortunately, that leaves out the President of the United States.

Look what his fatuous dilly-dallying has done:

The Russians aren’t amused:

Update:

You have to see it to believe it.

This Authoritarian Life

Published by Tom Sullivan on July 14, 2025

With apologies to Ira Glass

George Retes, 25, a disabled veteran and security guard at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, CA, was among last week’s desaparecidos taken by ICE.

Has it sunk in yet? This is the uncivil war MAGA wingnuts have thirsted for.

Troops, terror and tears in Los Angeles as Ice raids show no sign of slowing

Regarding that July 7, made-for-TV photo-op in L.A.’s McArthur Park, the absurd ICE show of force did in fact leave a mark. CO (initials only), an employee of B&Z Osorio Restaurant across from the park tells The Guardian that business has fallen by half since the ICE raids began:

Since the onset of raids, CO said, his uncle, the owner and founder, has cut back on restaurant hours and produce orders to save money due to the drop-off in customers. At 10am on Thursday, when the restaurant would usually be full of families eating breakfast, there was only one booth occupied.

CO says that they have tried calling their local customers to offer them special deals, but many families have refused. “They’re either too scared or they haven’t gone to work because of Ice. They say they’d rather cook at home. It’s better and safer,” CO said. Monday’s “stunt and show of power”, CO said, does little to help improve the current situation: “Our customer base is mainly Hispanic. They are targeted the most.”

[…]

Lawyers and advocates say that those arrested, including some US citizens, have been targeted for arrest at random – and likely because of how they look. In a legal complaint, legal aid and immigrant rights groups have accused the DHS of engaging “in an extraordinary campaign of targeting people based on nothing more than the color of their skin, and in some cases, where they live or work”.

Trump authorizes Ice agents to protect themselves using ‘whatever means’ necessary

It gives Stephen Miller nightime emissions for his golden sock puppet to issue manly warnings like these:

“I am giving Total Authorization for Ice to protect itself, just like they protect the Public,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday, adding that he was directing the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, and “border czar”, Tom Homan, to arrest anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) protesters who impede immigration enforcement operations.

Trump said he’s told the administrators to “instruct all Ice, Homeland Security, or any other Law Enforcement Officer who is on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so”.

US undocumented farm workers feel ‘hunted like animals’ amid Trump’s immigration raids

Dear Kitty, Europeans old enough to remember the Nazi occupation know the feeling:

Undocumented farm workers feel they’re being “hunted like animals”, they told the Guardian, as Donald Trump’s administration ramps up its crackdown on immigration.

Raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) have caused workers to lose hours and income, and forced them into hiding at home, according to interviews.

ICE Presence Halts LA Wildfire Recovery: Live Updates

It’s almost as if Donald Trump has declared war on the country’s most populous state:

Federal immigration raids are disrupting post-wildfire recovery efforts across Southern California, where immigrant workers have played a crucial role in decontaminating homes and rebuilding neighborhoods following the January wildfires in Los Angeles. Amid the Trump administration’s crackdown, fear of arrest has left job sites vacant, stalling cleanup operations in communities hardest hit by January’s Eaton and Palisades fires.

Disabled veteran who is a US citizen was taken during Camarillo immigration raid, family says

No one is safe from them. That’s the point Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Pam Bondi, and Kristi Noem and her secret police mean to make. But they are not the ultimate authority in this country. We the People are:

@meidastouch

"Concerned family members are desperate for answers after they say a disabled U.S. veteran and citizen was taken during a federal immigration raid at a cannabis farm in Camarillo," reports ABC7 7/11/25

♬ original sound – MeidasTouch

* * * * *

Have you fought dictatorship today?

Good Trouble Lives On (Thursday July 17, in memory of John Lewis)
The Resistance Lab
Choose Democracy
Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink
You Have Power
Chop Wood, Carry Water
Thirty lonely but beautiful actions
Attending a Protest Surveillance Self-Defense

Didn’t Even Have To Wait For The Pardon

Published by digby on July 13, 2025

Look for any MAGA cultist to be let free over the next couple of weeks. It’s going to be a free-for-all:

The Department of Justice (DOJ) moved to dismiss charges against a Utah doctor charged in connection with a COVID-19 fraud scheme, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Saturday.

Michael Kirk Moore Jr. and three of his associates were indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2023 and accused of discarding more than $28,000 worth of government-provided COVID-19 vaccines and of distributing nearly 2,000 fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards in exchange for cash or required “donations.”

The indictment also alleged that Moore and his associates administered saline shots to children, at the request of the parents, so the children would think they were receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

The trial began a week ago in Salt Lake City, but Bondi announced Saturday that the DOJ would dismiss the charges.

“At my direction @TheJusticeDept has dismissed charges against Dr. Kirk Moore,” Bondi wrote in a post on the social platform X.

Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so,” she continued. “He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today.”

He could have just refused to give the shots. Instead he engaged in a fraudulent scheme for profit and exploited children in the process.

The Attorney General personally intervened to let him off the hook.

I’m sure this had nothing to do with the fact that she is under heavy MAGA fire over the Epstein File scandal. She’s just trying to uphold the rule of law for America.