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Friday Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 07:10:33 AM EST
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In other news this week:

DOJ fired prosecutor Maureen Comey. Anyone know why? Was it because of her father, because of something she did in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, or something she did in the Sean Combs trial?

Donald Trump has been diagnosed with venous insufficiency.

Ten reasons Emil Bove should not be a federal judge. But let's not blame his actions as a defense lawyer, which he was for all of five minutes. There's enough in his actions while a federal prosecutor to shut him out.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

< Donald Trump Under Pressure Over Epstein Files

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    Why don't they just ask (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by Chuck0 on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 06:22:24 PM EST
    Ghislaine Maxwell?

    The conventional wisdom (none / 0) (#11)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 06:32:04 PM EST
    says she won't talk because she expects a pardon from Trump at the end of Trump II.

    And lots of the stuff the DOJ asked for today will not be available because she is still in court. Obviously why they were requested.

    If Trump suddenly had some kind of health problem she might rethink that.
    Consider other deals.

    Parent

    What is meant by "the Epstein files"? (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by Peter G on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 12:21:09 PM EST
    I can think of three buckets: (1) Files and records (including video and/or audio recordings) that JE himself made and kept, and which were seized by the FBI during the search incident to his arrest. (2) Files and records created by the FBI during the investigation of the case and by the U.S. Attorney's Office during their preparation for prosecuting it. (3) Materials presented to the grand jury for obtaining the indictments of JE and G. Maxwell. Nothing prevents government disclosure of categories 1 & 2 other than federal privacy laws designed to protect crime victims and individuals incidentally named in those files but not charged with any crime (which is actually a lot of what people want to see). Category 3 (which is what was pretend-requested to be disclosed today) cannot be disclosed without court order, and as far as I can tell the pertinent court rule does not authorize that disclosure (see Rule 6(e)(2)(E)).

    Parent
    Thanks for that. (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 12:49:24 PM EST
    It explains a lot and why nothing has been released. And I'm guessing if it was released it would be so redacted as nobody would learn much from it.

    Parent
    Dan Goldman (none / 0) (#20)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 01:56:43 PM EST
    Want to know about the redactions of Trump's name---

    To be clear, there is no proper basis to redact the name, identify, or likeness of President Trump.

    If you have been directed to redact instances of President Trump's name or likeness that are included in the Epstein Files, then your oath of office and your commitment to transparency requires you to inform the American people of that directive. As part of Congress' oversight authority provided by the Constitution of the United States, I request that you respond, in writing, to the following questions no later than June 2, 2025:

    Are you or the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in possession of all of the Epstein Files in the FBI's custody and control?

    Have the necessary redactions of victims' identities and likenesses been completed? If not, why not?  

    Has the name, identity or likeness of President Donald Trump been redacted? If so, why?  

    Have you, OAG, or any other member of the DOJ been contacted by President Trump, anyone working in the White House, or another agent of President Trump's about the Epstein Files?  

    If so, did they request that you or your staff prevent the release of the Epstein Files?

    Did they request that you redact the name, identity or likeness of President Trump from the Epstein Files prepared to be released publicly pursuant to your previous promise?  

    If not, why haven't you released the Epstein Files as you promised to do in February?  

    If you do still intend to release the Epstein Files, please provide a detailed timeline of your plan to do so.

    Parent

    AI says (none / 0) (#12)
    by FlJoe on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 06:50:39 PM EST
    Reports have surfaced indicating that Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring, has expressed a willingness to testify before Congress regarding the case. These reports stem from an anonymous source close to Maxwell, as published in the Daily Mail on July 13, 2025. The source claims Maxwell was never offered a plea deal and would be "more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story," according to NewsNation.


    Parent
    Hmmm (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 07:39:58 PM EST
    But maybe.  

    "Some people" think Epstein was killed to keep this stuff from coming out in a trial.

    If I was her that would weigh in any decision.

    They are talking about having her testify. If this keeps spiraling it could happen.  

    If this ends Shitler it would be both poetic and operatic. I would pay to see that opera.

    Parent

    Laura Loomer and others (none / 0) (#1)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 08:36:28 AM EST
    have been calling for her to be fired for a while.

    "Why is Comeys daughter still in the DOJ"

    I think he fired her to throw them a bone and try to change the subject.

    It really (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 10:25:41 AM EST
    looks bad in light of who she was trying to put or did put in prison. And the timing couldn't be worse.

    Parent
    If anyone (none / 0) (#3)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 10:26:51 AM EST
    can read that letter Trump wrote to Epstein and not think they were doing some creepy and illegal stuff together that would be something.

    That letter to me is basically an admission of guilt.

    Honestly, I'm just here for the popcorn. (none / 0) (#4)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 04:43:13 PM EST
    Whether or not I believe that Trump and his regime are covering up the Jeffrey Epstein affair is actually immaterial in the larger scheme of things.

    Suffice for me to note only that there were many young women - some of whom were under the age of consent - who were real victims of that creep. That's somehow gotten lost in the collective obsession of mainstream journalism and social media over the late financier's so-called "client list", which may or may not actually exist.

    What I do believe is that conspiracy theories will eventually consume themselves, like a snake devouring itself tail first. Donald Trump has only himself to blame here for the personal folly-turned-political firestorm that he himself lit the match to start many years ago. Couldn't have happened to a nicer fella.

    And that dumba$$ is now doubling down on stupid by filing a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal, thus further ensuring that Trump / Epstein remains a big story for the next few news cycles.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    How much of what everyone wants (none / 0) (#6)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 04:59:46 PM EST
    can the get in the process of discovery?

    Parent
    Lisa Ruben (none / 0) (#7)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 05:08:00 PM EST
    just answered this.  It's pretty much.  As I understood.
    And he would have to be deposed.

    Parent
    I know he just got a big settlement (none / 0) (#8)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 05:12:30 PM EST
    from CBS and others he has bullied.

    This is different.  They are not going to settle.  

    Parent

    So now Trump is suing Rupert (none / 0) (#5)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 04:54:38 PM EST
    and Dow Jones(?) and whoever else about the birthday card.  It's official.

    So, if he is sueing them.  He gets deposed, right?
    I'll pay to see that.

    Trump sues Murdoch, Dow Jones over WSJ story on Epstein birthday letter: court records

    This (none / 0) (#14)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 09:08:22 PM EST
    Will probably end up like the Woodward tape case that was thrown out of court. He sues so he can look like he's fighting back but unless there is something he can use against them like a merger then the case goes nowhere

    Parent
    This is a new shiny thing (none / 0) (#9)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 18, 2025 at 06:05:48 PM EST
    I'm sure charges are coming.

    Gabbard claims Obama officials `manufactured intelligence' of 2016 Russian election interference
    by Brett Samuels and Rebecca Beitsch - 07/18/25 6:26 PM ET

    Gabbard asserted in a statement that former officials engaged in a "treasonous conspiracy" and said her office was turning over evidence to the Justice Department for possible criminal referrals.

    Skepticism About Trump's Birthday Card to Epstein (none / 0) (#15)
    by RickyJim on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 10:42:13 AM EST
    Michael Cohen is quite credible here: starting 3:15 in. He says that Trump does not have the drawing, typing or literary skills to produce the card.  He guesses that he asked somebody to write it for him.

    Trump (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 01:46:49 PM EST
    draws pictures.

    Cohen is an idiot.

    Parent

    I'll Wait for the Evidence (none / 0) (#21)
    by RickyJim on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 03:35:59 PM EST
    Trump got some small change in return for sending in those doodles of buildings.  Nobody so far has claimed they have seen Donald Trump draw a picture, use a typewriter or computer or use language like in the dialog in the birthday letter.  And Cohen has been making his living for the last few years by making anti-Trump podcasts and interviews as this yesterday with Jake Tapper.

    Parent
    Whatever (none / 0) (#22)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 04:10:15 PM EST

    Trump, Who Has Sold His Doodles in Past, Denies Report of Graphic Epstein Letter by Saying He 'Never Wrote a Picture in My Life'

    People have seen him draw them.

    Parent

    Here (none / 0) (#23)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 04:12:48 PM EST
    Trump even admitted to his prolific scribbling prowess in his 2010 book, Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges Into Success.

    "Each year, I donate an autographed doodle to the Doodle for Hunger auction at Tavern on the Green," he wrote. "It's a great event."

    link

    Parent

    Listen to the Interview I Linked (none / 0) (#24)
    by RickyJim on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 04:26:23 PM EST
    He told Tapper that Trump has had plenty of assistants who were excellent artists.  I also agree with Cohen that there are much more horrible things that Trump is doing now than what he and Epstein might have done 20-30 yearas ago.

    Parent
    So (none / 0) (#25)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 04:33:34 PM EST
    You think those drawings were done by 'excellent artists".
    Did you look at them?  And I guess they signed his name?
    Or do you think he always has a artist travelling  with him and he just signs them?

    Thanks but I would rather stick nails in my ears than listen to Cohen. That man has had his 15 and needs to go away.

    Parent

    Who cares what Michael Cohen told Jake Tapper? (none / 0) (#27)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 08:00:10 PM EST
    Regarding Tapper: To the extent that Donald Trump was immunized from scandals which would have toppled anyone else in politics, it's because Tapper, Maggie Haberman and their colleagues in the political press corps -- surely in the interest of upholding their sense of fairness, balance and impartiality (nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more, say no more) -- have repeatedly bent over backward to rationalize and normalize the abhorrent behavior of a corrupt neo-fascist from hell.

    Donald Trump's long and meticulously well- documented adversarial relationship with facts and truth stands as testament that he should not be afforded any benefit of the doubt by anyone.

    Personally, I don't care about the Jeffrey Epstein case because he's dead, although I have expressed my concern over the effect of this public obsession with it on Epstein's many and very real victims, whose pain and distress appear to exist only in the abstract to the chattering classes.

    To the extent that Trump is in political trouble over Epstein, it's his own fault. His campaign turned the case into a political Ponzi scheme by strongly suggesting to his marks that its evidence could bring down the Deep State. And as a result, it should come as no surprise to anyone that there's now a run on the bank and it's costing him political capital with the supporters he's bilked.

    But will it cripple or topple Trump? Well, I'll believe it when I actually see it happen and not before. I mean, if "Grab 'em by the p*$$y", a criminal conviction on 34 felony counts and "They're eating the dogs, they're eating the cats" couldn't sink him, I very much doubt this will.

    That said, I'll add a caveat with an admission that nothing would make me happier right now than to see subsequent events prove me wrong.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Then (none / 0) (#16)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 12:06:29 PM EST
    he didn't draw the sketches he sent to people to sell for charity either. Nobody thinks Trump actually typed that out himself.

    Anyway this is apparently just the tip of the iceberg as Bondi had 1000 agents going through all the evidence flagging Trump's name. There is no telling how much evidence is in there that includes Trump but it's telling that instead of redacting they just closed the case.

    Parent

    Wise words from Kos (none / 0) (#26)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 07:43:06 PM EST

    And here's the thing: Trump's power depends entirely on the unwavering devotion of people like this. So what happens when that devotion falters? What happens if Elon Musk follows through on his threats to primary Republicans over Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill"--and actually succeeds, powered by this festering backlash on the far right?

    And what happens if the fractured right allows Democrats not just to win big in the House, but to do the seemingly impossible and retake the Senate?

    Trump's influence is only as strong as his grip on his base. So what happens when that grip disappears?

    Sh!t is getting interesting.
    Check H.Res.581-Epstein Files Transparency Act (none / 0) (#28)
    by RickyJim on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 08:23:45 PM EST
    Especially the strange bedfellows among the cosponsors.  I can't see this as anything but serious trouble for DJT.

    What you see here is the extent of it. (none / 0) (#30)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 08:39:46 PM EST
    H.Res.581 is congressional performance art. It will not be scheduled for a public hearing by Gentleman Jim Jordan. And even if it was and somehow got passed out by his Judiciary Committee, to the extent that Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson controls the House agenda, the legislation will not see the light of day on the House floor.

    You can take that to the bank.

    Parent

    Regarding Emil Bove's judicial candidacy, ... (none / 0) (#29)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Jul 19, 2025 at 08:27:42 PM EST
    Jeralyn: "Ten reasons Emil Bove should not be a federal judge. But let's not blame his actions as a defense lawyer, which he was for all of five minutes. There's enough in his actions while a federal prosecutor to shut him out."

    ... one needs to consider the total package he offers and not just pick and choose what to like and dislike, cafeteria-style.

    To Jeralyn, Peter G and their honorable colleagues in the criminal defense establishment: With all due respect, Bove's behavior as an attorney rightly bears no reflection on either your chosen field of legal practice or your own personal integrity therein and thereof.

    If Emile Bove's conduct as a federal prosecutor leaves much to be desired, then the odds are better than even that the same could be said about his tenure as a criminal defense counsel, for the simple reason that leopards don't change their spots depending on the terrain they presently inhabit. And from what I've seen, I wouldn't trust him to fairly judge the entries in a two-float rose parade.

    Aloha.

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