So this is one of the three I saw listed in that lawsuit last month, I believe. The other two being Bank of New York [x-Mellon] and Bank of America. Only the best for the worst.
Epstein client list, does it exist or not?
- Thread starter Mikie
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It's in the act that the AG has to write a written justification for each and every redaction, and since Trump isn't named in those new investigations it'll be difficult to square that hole.
He explicitly calls out Bessent for dismissing any concerns that there's a There there to be found, or that it has anything to do with the Treasury department's responsibilities.Essentially implying the Treasury Secretary is part of the cover-up. Which, I mean, of course he is.
I don't think you appreciate how much this Epstein stuff has escalated. Republicans in congress caved, almost unheard of in itself. It's the coverup that gets you, as they say, and this is one of the few crimes Trump seems unwilling to commit out in the open. This is clearly hurting him and clearly has him on the verge of panic, and him obviously engaging in a coverup is tantamount to a confession.
Trump literally told them how to vote, and then they did.
I respect that they caved and don’t think that is nothing. I think Trump won’t be affected by this but I do think the more rich people that Trump was probably protecting that get consumed by this the better. Eat the fucking rich. Gobble those fuckers up like Trump did Bill Clinton. JP Morgan execs? Make them the fall guys. Summers? Fuckem. Prince Andrew? Whatever he wouldn’t have previously gotten, good. Whoever worse shakes out? Put them in jail or provide consequences. Maybe the only thing normal people and MAGA seem to agree on. Make it clear that associating with pedophiles and shit stains like Epstein and Trump will splash back on you will be instructive if nothing else.
Hold people accountable is always the right thing to do. I also think it will affect Trump. I may not be directly at the moment, but there will be fallout. There may be pardons from Trump. Or people may turn on Trump. Or it is also possible that some of the rich people will turn to Trump for more protection.
This is not the time to let up. Demand the files and then demand prosecutions of those implicated and investigate the coverups in public and bring impeachment articles to the floor of the House every damn day.
On the one hand, I definitely agree. I don't think there's anything we can do to punish them that would be worse than what the victims went through and still live with.
This wealth gap has been increasing (more or less) my whole life, starting with Nixon. The Reagan tax policies and the "drown government in a bathtub" guy, I can't remember his name, that has done incredible damage.
If we can't restrain some people from exceeding a certain wealth (whatever "obscene wealth" means), this will happen. People change when they are wealthier than those around them, and they start testing boundaries of what they can do to others. I've seen it, and I'm sure many of you have too.
Yeah. Him. Fuck that guy. Government should be as large as it needs to be to provide services, including the ones that the private sector just won't provide because there's not enough money in them. Some things society needs that government really is the best provider for.
When I think "small-c conservative small government" I think: don't add massive new structures with nebulous responsibilities and largely unchecked power, e.g. DHS/ICE. That was a bad idea at the time it was being considered, and we have clear evidence why it was such a bad idea now.
"Drown the government" was malicious from the get-go, and now malice can be exported at scale by social media, and they're happy to do it for the cash. It was such a letdown when the EU didn't pursue the X algorithm for oversight. Demand access for oversight at random. Big tech companies will not do the right thing unless forced. I'm confident of that.
Grover Norquist?
Agreed. This reminded me of a bit of a long comment that I opted not to post, but this, I think, is relevant and :
1. The Big
It's not meant to be a joke, it's a reminder that there's already one item that points to possible blackmail, and it would not surprise me if there were multiple cases in these files. Keeping pressure on constantly helps ensure such things escape attempts at destruction of evidence, one way or another.
Also, remember that entire bill is tailor made to serve the plutocrats. The wealthiest. The ones who don't pay taxes. What happens when the obscenely wealthy see that only their lessers (everyone who does pay taxes) carry the burden of keeping the country running? And then see their paid-in-full legislators hand them a bill with everything they wanted, and for their laughs, take away Medicaid and whatever other scraps the rest of us still have?
Child rapists happen. Because they have everything and enjoy inflicting pain.
I see two options for somebody in government that is being blackmailed:
- Step down from government forever and hope it goes away
- Publicly admit being blackmailed, for what, and who was responsible. If criminal behavior, take the hit and do your time. If not, step down (this is the only really good option, in my opinion, because as long as it's still secret, the risk never fully goes away)
As posted in the current events thread, MTG has announced her resignation. I'd like to highlight a snippet of her letter (Twitter) here.
It seems the Epstein Files have claimed their first MAGA casualty and I suspect this is going to cause even more ripples. This isn't Jeff Flake or Liz Cheney we're talking about. This lady wore a fucking MAGA hat to SOTU addresses.
This is rather fantastic news.
It seems the Epstein Files have claimed their first MAGA casualty and I suspect this is going to cause even more ripples. This isn't Jeff Flake or Liz Cheney we're talking about. This lady wore a fucking MAGA hat to SOTU addresses.
This is rather fantastic news.
There's a lot of issues on which I disagree with MTG. I do understand why a woman finds it so deeply, deeply offensive. I saw the consequences every day for almost 25 years and it's hard to find words to express how offensive it is.
ETA: I wonder how far the fractures will extend and whether enough men will be offended enough to do something about it. I suppose we'll find out.
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I do not find it a coincidence that 3 of 4 Republicans that voted for the discharge petition were women. I have zero doubt they know very well about the danger of reckless men. Mace has been pretty frank on this front.
We can game theory a million ways as to why but they still did it against cultish pressure. Good for them and us.
I frankly don’t think Epstein is the reason why MTG is resigning, not for one minute. Trump’s treatment of women outside of it has been consistently absolutely abhorrent and that that he was involved with Epstein is not even remotely a secret.
She has been harboring other political ambitions for some time and has been thwarted by internal machinations for a bit. The timing of her resignation, combined with her feigning towards the center from the far, far right are circumspect to say the least.
She is and remains a terrible person with terrible positions.
She has been harboring other political ambitions for some time and has been thwarted by internal machinations for a bit. The timing of her resignation, combined with her feigning towards the center from the far, far right are circumspect to say the least.
She is and remains a terrible person with terrible positions.
It’s interesting how much she is like Sarah palin.
is it better to be a partisan team player like Mike Johnson or a maverick like mtg?
The 2026 midterms are going to be a blowout. I’ve heard projections of a 70 seat D gain and possible senate majority. And likely after 2026 the trend will continue until…the 2030 midterms. That’s how politics is.
The investigations and impeachment articles will be quite enjoyable.
Lol, reading your post had my mind instantly recall Tina Fey's Sarah Palin talking about what a maverick she was.
View: https://youtu.be/_iyIbbxVzrU?t=186
I swear, every Republican now is either Sarah Palin or Joe the Plumber. All the worst elements of the 2008 campaign set the template for today’s party.
"Template" is the right word. They sure do like that all-"American" beauty queen look. But when, say, Pam Bondi buys (or rescues? which is it?) a dog, then finds out the dog actually belonged to a boy and "could we get that corrected?" and you're thinking "she wouldn't give the dog back?" A quick search on "Pam Bondi stolen dog" brings up a toxic stew that I'm not even going to try to sort out.
I don't know exactly what happened. But I've seen how Pam Bondi acts in her official capacity. People that these kinds of stories swirl around, I don't care how "beautiful", natural or aftermarket beauty is just not going to cover the ugliness.
IDK, if this is how the Epstein Files are going to inflict casualties on MAGA, it sounds like fairly terrible news to me. I mean, she isn't in the files and was pushing for them to be released, so, if they are what killed her, that suggests that the Epstein files aren't actually a threat to Trump. Which implies bad things for the general safety of women.
All that said, I'm not going to morn MTG's leaving plitics.
MTG is in a safe (Republican) district. Trump and the GOP could afford to lose her if she wore out her welcome with them.
The American people wrote the check on the safety of so many people when they collectively exercised their ignorance to put us into this mess. Again. Women are already less safe, not just in rhetoric but due to very real things like Dobbs.
Judging by the Scooby-Doo antics of the Trump administration, the Epstein Files are an obvious threat to Trump, not to be confused with a silver bullet.
MTG quitting like this isn't a boon for Trump. The more MAGA and their adjacent dude & money realms have friction, the better for our country.
It seems extremely obvious to me that this is not how the Epstein files are going to inflict casualties, and it's not even the main threat vector to MAGA. What's hurting them is the economy and extremely unpopular actions like mass deportation. Probably the economy is going to get worse before midterms and Trump is going to get more authoritarian, which will hurt him worse.
No, I think it's pretty obvious that MTG is angling for a job on one of the news networks, state governorship, or some other sinecure, and she just wants to get out of the blast radius before midterms hit. It positions her to lecture others on how MAGA messed up and how she knew better all along. It's nonsense of course, but it's marketable nonsense hence a perfectly feasible retirement plan.
Wringing your hands over what's in the Epstein files and what impact it will have is exactly the least useful analysis you can be doing. What you should be watching is the unforced errors Trump and others commit trying to deal with the situation. For example, the HoR Republicans released a huge trove of e-mails for no reason that I've been able to discern and those have done a lot to implicate Trump and several allies. It was a severe blunder with no intelligible motivation that I've been able to figure out other than "release e-mails? oh yeah, we'll show you, here's even more e-mails!". It's occupied news cycles and prevented Trump from getting out in front of his many other problems, all of which are still eroding his approval. It's also caused a bafflingly widening split between congressional Republicans and Trump. Maybe there's a silver bullet in the mystery box, maybe not, but you simply don't need to know what's in there to see that it's causing Republicans to fuck up and lose time before a highly likely drubbing in the midterms, after which they will almost certainly not be able to pass whatever legislation they like anymore. This is exactly what an opposition party should be doing. This idea that there has to be a silver bullet to be worth it is nonsense, it's worth it if their stupid reactions cost them precious time. The fact it's a potential lottery ticket for further hurting Trump is worth keeping in mind but in no way necessary to see that this has been worth it.
This and other comments you've made seem to imply you regard all billionaires as child rapists. Is that correct? I mean, if it was 'child rapist who become billionaires can get away with it' I could agree. But 'billionaires are all pedos' I can't. So just seeking some clarity here.
Except that it very clearly is. It's pretty clear that MTG didn't resign so much as she was made to resign. This is a punishment and her political ambitions are now over. So, the relevant question is "what did MTG do to earn punishment"? And with her handling of the Epstein files, she did the one thing that a rabble rouser should not do: she bit the hand that feeds. No faction of the GOP wants that kind of unreliability on their side. So she had to go. And, because that is why she had to go, nobody is going to help her meet her other political ambitions ever again.
Biting the hand in GOP politics is definitely not going to go over well.
I was curious about whether the regime is particular about their Christian nationalists? Somebody mentioned that she appears more the fundamentalist type. This is the 'formula' that made them curious:
Jock (MGT pumps iron), Business woman, sends lots of wacky letters (the old-school version of batshit youtube).
I might be missing one, (could have been 'ambitious' - I think that's it) but it made me wonder how exclusive their club really is. I guess it's not likely to ring a bell unless one's spent a good bit of time in TX/GA/maybe FL in the past 50 years or so.
We’ll see, but I disagree. She can easily mend fences and resurface.
How? Keep in mind, her political role is basically as an aggressive attack dog. And aggressive attack dogs who bite the hand that feeds tend not to survive long. She has shown her self to be difficult to control, that's not the kind of thing that is easily mended when your job is to pick fights.
She was positioning herself to be a leader among rebel Republicans willing to do things like go against Trump. Can't be a rebel if the Emporer endorses what you're calling for. And if you're not a rebel leader then you're cannon fodder.
RefrigeratorCo.
Ars Scholae Palatinae
1) She went the Trump way
2) She betrayed the Trump way
People like this never, ever, ever come back into power. She may be on the Joe Rogan Show but she won't ever be back on the hill.
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I am honestly not trying to knit my brain into a Brezel trying to make sense of the motivations of a scary crazy christo-fascist with a very tenuous grasp of reality. I judge people by their actions. Just wait and see. Stop speculating.
People like MTG are actually easier folks to handle in life. They carry their convictions on their sleeves and they stay true to communicated intentions. You don't need to try to second goes the "Why". They will clearly communicate the "What".
I've read/heard elsewhere that she wants to run for the GOP nomination next time around. Simple as that. Plus hasn't she always been fervent about releasing the client list/Epstein files? She might be out of touch with Trump right now, but she IS in touch with his base. Who presumably won't be retiring from politics when Trump does. Might as well court them.