I don't think any secretary
heading a department in the current administration is doing more damage
than Junior. He is not qualified to head Health and Human Services. He
is a ding bat and a quack and the country needs someone with real
medical training. Instead, we have the idiot Junior and his crackpot
nonsense. A letter to the editors of THE LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER notes:
I
never fully appreciated the important role our government plays in my
own health. Now it seems our government, under President Donald Trump,
actually threatens my health-and yours.
Significant
federal funding cuts led by Trump have been made in medical research.
Important research on cancer and vaccines has been canceled. That is
research you or someone in your family and mine might benefit from in
the future.
Cuts will likely mean reduced services
at some hospitals and health care centers; some will close. Millions
will be without health care insurance.
Unfortunately,
we have at the helm of the Health and Human Services Cabinet, Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr., a crusader against vaccines and a supporter of medical
conspiracy theories. His threat against public health last week became
even more clear as the guardrails began to slip off. The director of the
Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) was fired after one month on the job because she refused to rubberstamp Kennedy's policies. Then three leading officials in the CDC resigned in protest.
This
week, I must search out a pharmacy, if there is one in Kentucky,
willing to administer Covid vaccines in the midst of the shake up at the
CDC.
Health
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the face of the federal government’s
health care policies, but a new poll suggests few Americans trust his
advice when it comes to their own medical decisions.
An Economist/YouGov poll released Wednesday
found that 26 percent of respondents said that they at least “somewhat”
trust Kennedy’s medical advice, compared to 48 percent who said that
they distrust him.
An overwhelming majority (79
percent, of respondents said they trust medical advice from their own
doctors, and half (51 percent) trust guidance from the embattled Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Kennedy,
a former environmental lawyer who does not have a medical degree, has
come under intense pressure in recent days following the messy ouster of
former CDC director Susan Monarez and other actions that critics argue
are “compromising the health of the nation.”
Nearly half of respondents in the Economist/YouGov poll (45 percent) said they disapprove of Kennedy’s job as the HHS secretary.
We don't trust him, we don't like him. He's a nut job and he's putting every American's life at risk.
Health
and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s testimony before
the Senate Finance Committee was interrupted on Thursday when a member
of the audience shouted at the controversial Trump official.
The
interruption came during Kennedy's opening statements, as the HHS
Secretary read about various achievements his department has made: "The
grass loophole. Fluoride in our drinking water, gas station heroine.
Electronic cigarettes, drug prices, prior authorization, information
blockage."
Then, the first rumbling of discontent was
heard in the background. A woman's voice rose and started saying
something unintelligible. Kennedy stopped his remarks and looked at the
panel with raised eyebrows.
The
woman is heard saying that it takes over three months to get something.
"Senator Kennedy, do you know something?" the woman says before
Chairman Mike Carpo says that the session will be held in recess until
the woman is removed.
"The committee will come
to order," Carpo said. "You're killing millions of people!" the woman
shouts as she is removed from the proceedings.
Once
the woman had been fully removed, Chairman Carpo offered his apology to
Kennedy: " I apologize to you for that outburst, Secretary Kennedy. I
would notify the audience, everyone in the audience, that comments from
the audience are inappropriate."
We don't trust him because he's a liar and it's a rare day that he's not caught again in another lie. Housnia Shams (THE MIRROR) notes:
Health
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has claimed that the United States is
the "sickest country in the world" as he attempted to justify recent
firings at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Kennedy
appeared before a congressional committee on Thursday for a hearing
about his plans to "Make America Healthy Again" but was also questioned
about layoffs and planned budget cuts at the CDC.
Speaking at the hearing, Kennedy accused the agency of not doing enough to ensure Americans were healthy.
"We
are the sickest country in the world. That's why we have to fire people
at the CDC," he said. "They did not do their job, this was their job to
keep us healthy and I need to fire some of those people to make sure
this doesn't happen again."
The unhealthiest
country in the world in 2025 was the Central African Republic, while the
United States was ranked 69th, according to the World Population
Review.
He's such a liar. He lies with conviction. Looks people straight in the eye and tells a lie daring them to call his bluff.
Here's Lawrence O'Donnell addressing the problem that is Junior.
Here's Katie Phang addressing the nasty smell in the room that is Junior.
Thursday, September 4, 2025. Truth tellers speak to the nation and
Chump attacks them as his destruction of the country's economy becomes
undeniable.
Yesterday, some of' the
survivors of Julian Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's abuse took part in a
press conference calling for justice and closure. Many spoke to the
media throughout the day after the conference. On MSNBC, for example,
last night Lawrence O'Donnell spoke with survivor Jena-Lisa Jones.
President
Trump probably hoped the long Labor Day weekend would help him outrun
his political troubles. Instead, his absence from public view only
seemed to sharpen the mounting questions about his health and fitness
for office.
Unfortunately for Trump, one
trouble never comes alone. The explosion of chatter around Trump’s
health might have Americans questioning whether the president is up to
the job, but it hasn’t distracted them from demanding the full release
of the Jeffrey Epstein files. People want to know how their president
was involved with the nation’s most notorious child sex trafficker —
and, for once, they aren’t buying into Trump’s cynical distractions.
Where are the Epstein files, Mr. President?
After
an August spent trying (and failing) to move on from Trump’s Epstein
connection, Republicans have returned to Washington to find Epstein’s
victims still waiting by House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) door. Far
from cooling the temperature regarding the Epstein documents, the August
recess seems to have given Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie
(R-Ky.) time to build bipartisan consensus around their release. If
Khanna and Massie get their way, Trump may soon have a black eye to
match his bruised hands.
Watchdog organizations are
pressing for answers, even if most congressional Republicans aren’t.
Last week, the nonpartisan Democracy Defenders Fund filed a federal
lawsuit against the Trump administration demanding the full release of
all files related to the Epstein investigation — not just the same
already-public documents the Department of Justice has falsely touted as
“new” information. They argue, rightly, that transparency isn’t
optional in a democracy, even if that transparency implicates the
sitting president in potentially criminal misconduct.
Survivors
who were exploited by Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring on
Wednesday called for full transparency after Congress released thousands
of pages of documents to the public.
Epstein
was a convicted sex offender accused of victimizing hundreds of young
women. At a news conference, Lisa Phillips said survivors are compiling
their own list of people who abused Epstein's victims.
No,
Justin, after Congress re-released 97% of pages of documents. We
don't need to provide cover of lies. Only 3% of what Congress released
yesterday was new. 97% was already publicly available.
This
statement Justin later types makes clear that he knows that, "Most
of the documents released Tuesday contained information that had
already been made public through court filings and other records." That
sentence belongs in the article first paragraph. Instead Justin buries
it in paragraph ten. Back to his article:
"We
know the names. Many of us were abused by them," she said. "We will
confidentially compile the names we all know are regularly in the
Epstein world."
Phillips said many people knew of Epstein's abuse.
"Why
was he allowed to sponsor visas for young models using their
immigration status as leverage to abuse them and silence them?" Phillips
said. "Epstein was not just a serial predator; he was an international
human trafficker. And many around him knew this, many participated, and
many profited — and yet he was protected."
Phillips was among those calling for transparency.
Also stumbling is a member of Congress. Evan Williams (TAG24) notes,
"MAGA Congressman James Comer claimed on Tuesday that Ghislaine Maxwell
had 'exonerated' President Donald Trump during an interview with the
Department of Justice." Comer's a liar or an idiot -- probably both.
Pope Leo might be able to exonerate someone with a statement because the
new pope is trusted. Jizzy Pants Maxwell? She's a convicted felon as
is her dead partner Epstein. In her two days of chatting with air head
Todd Blanche, Jizzy Pants insisted she was innocent and that so was
Epstein. A liar like that? They can lie but they can't exonerate.
"What
I will say is she got this airtime and platform. Her voice was elevated
way before our voices were elevated here today," said Hyelm. "And the
same calm, manipulative voice that she had — so polite, there, that day
with Todd Blanche, was the same polite, coercive, manipulative voice
that I heard as she was grooming me to then send me off to the home of
Jeffrey Epstein, where he would assault me."
The
same attempt to build a relationship and try to garner trust was what
Helm said she experienced. She was convinced she was about to start her
"dream job" for which she'd been recruited from college. She was flown
from Los Angeles to New York City for an interview.
"So, I thought her voice that day was the same voice that sent me off to a monster," she added.
Helm
also noted that she thinks nothing can be believed that comes out of
Maxwell, because she's already been caught with perjury.
"I
myself could sit there and listen as I did, I sat there and listened,
listen to this woman's voice, lie, and there was no pushback from Todd
Blanche, because — does he even have the facts to be able to push back
on her?" Helm asked. "We could sit there and push back. Why didn't we
get to attend that? Why weren't we there that day, or why wasn't even
one of us consulted prior to that day in that meeting? And why on Earth
has she been moved from Florida to her — it's basically a prison spa. I
mean, you know, let's be real."
She explained that none of the survivors were consulted ahead of the meeting or even told that the interview would happen.
Marina Lacerda was part of a vast network of victims who were abused by Epstein
as a teenager. Until now, she was identified as an unidentified minor
victim in the 2019 federal indictment against the disgraced financier.
Joining lawmakers and a group of survivors in
Washington, D.C. Wednesday, Lacerda, 37, shared details of her abuse by
Epstein and demanded the complete release of the so-called Epstein
Files.
“I
never thought that I would find myself here,” she said. “The only
reason I’m here is because it feels like the people who matter in this
country finally care about what we have to say.”
She first met Epstein in 2002 in New York when she was just 14, according to the 2019 indictment.
The
young Brazilian immigrant was a freshman in high school at the time,
working three jobs to try to support her mom and her sister. That’s when
a friend told her she could make $300 by giving an “older guy” a
massage, she said at a Wednesday press conference on Capitol Hill.
“It went from a dream job to the worst nightmare,” Lacerda said.
Let's note some reactions from ten community sites:
Stan:
But that was scary and I couldn't believe anyone would harm my aunt
because she was so warm, sweet and funny. As the survivors spoke out
today, I kept thinking about that and how sick some people are. Maxwell
is sick. Epstien was sick. Maxwell is still alive. She needs to be
back in a real prison. And the president of the United States needs to
be defending the survivors, not attacking them.
Ann: The survivors shined today and as Chump attacked them, they just stuck
to the truth and shined even brighter. We need to see some justice on
this issue and we need to see some closure. Our government has to stand
with the survivors or our government is not of the people, it's against
the people.
Marcia: Today, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell spoke out.
The world's a little better as a result. When brave voices tell the
truth, it makes a difference. Chump immediately attacked them and called them a "hoax." Doesn't
matter. Many people heard them and some for the first time. This
helped the nation. I applaud these survivors and want to see justice
for them. Release the files. That's a demand we need to make to honor
those who were betrayed by the justice system and the Alex Acostas.
Kat: They
are not going to go away. They are not going to be dismissed. They
were ignored and threatened as girls and young women and they're not
having it anymore nor should they. We
need to join their call and demand all the records be released. We
need to join their call and make it clear that Maxwell belongs in a real
prison and not the social club Chump moved her to weeks ago. She is a
convicted sex trafficker and pedophile. She has stood trial and been
sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
Rebecca:
crooks. they're like the supreme court. they're not going to police
themselves, so they're not to need outsiders to do it. i
think we'll be seeing some much needed reforms after we've watched
chump and his family work overtime to make millions via their
corruption. but he's a predator and that's what predators do. he's
a predator who was friends with jeffrey epstein and ghislaine maxwell
and that's why the orange creep is not helping the survivors. he
doesn't care about and he never did. truth be told, he was probably
pushing himself on underage girls. chump is disgusting. and before this
is all over, maga will realize that and will grasp how he played them.
Elaine: Nothing but lies from Chump and his administration. Today, disgusting
Donald made a point to attack the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and
Ghislaine Maxwell. Chump is a con artist. He's exposed himself to the American people.
Trina: Chump is a liar. And he is a liar who does not care about the America
people. He's part of the swamp he once pretended to want to drain.
He's destroying our earth. That is just who he is, a dangerous
criminal. And that is why he moved Ghislaine Maxwell to Club Fed and
why he is attacking the survivors abused by Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.
Betty: Important day as survivors publicly spoke out and demanded justice.
They spoke out even as Chump attacked them. As US House Rep
Jasmine Crockett noted, clearly the White House was the hostile actors.
They are not a hoax and they will not be silenced.
When
the truth is spoken, we're all a little bit stronger as a result. We're
inspired to speak more truth. We're encouraged to stand with those in
need. Doing the right thing becomes very important.
Thank you to
all the survivors who spoke today and who inspired us and who remembered
the importance of humanity and that democracy requires a strong public
square where the truth can be spoken and embraced.
Mike: Donald Chump is
disgusting. He has two daughters. I only have one daughter. But this
is something that we all need to call out and that's especially true if
you are a father. What was done to these women by Epstein and Maxwell?
Those are crimes. And these women were failed. It's time for us, as a
country to make this right. To make it clear that grooming and abuse
is not acceptable and that destroying people's lives is not
acceptable. We
need to stand with the survivors to show them the support that they
shouldn't have gotten all along and we need to stand with the survivors
to embrace our own humanity. Donald
Chump is disgusting and so is anyone else protecting the criminals
Epstein and Maxwell and standing in the way of the survivors getting
justice and getting closure.
Ruth: And that is the reality before we factor in Mr. Chump's
efforts to silence those who survived the abuse of Jeffrey Epstein and
Ghislaine Maxwell.
Did
everyone catch the slap Chump gave Robert Kennedy Junior? Just
wondering. He's mocking those wanting the Kennedy assassination records
released.
Dementia
Donald Chump: It remind me a little of the Kennedy situation. We gave
them everything. Over and over again. More. And more. And more. And
nobody's ever satisfied.
Somebody
better check on Junior and they especially better check on the worm in
Junior's brain after Chump landed that bitch slap to Junior's head.
President
Donald Trump on Wednesday called demands that his administration
release the Jeffrey Epstein files a distraction from his successes, as a
group of victims of the notorious sex offender called for those
documents to be publicly disclosed.
"This is a Democratic hoax that never ends," Trump told reporters at the White House when he was asked about the Epstein files.
So
Chump's admitting he's a chump? Because if Epstein is just "a
Democratic hoax" and Chump told people last year he would release the
files and planned to do so even after he was sworn in at the start of
the year? If he's right in his comments currently that it was all a
hoax then Chump got taken in. Like a sucker. Like an idiot. Like a
Chump.
Jeffrey
Epstein survivor Lisa Phillips challenged President Donald Trump
on-camera over his multiple rants calling the Epstein Files a”hoax,”
inviting him to meet with her.
About a dozen
survivors spoke out Wednesday morning in a press conference organized by
lawmakers from both parties to call for more transparency over the
Epstein Files.
Phillips was asked about the many times that Trump has called the issue a “hoax,” and was unsparing in her response:
REPORTER:
The question would be for the survivors, the president has said that
this Epstein issue is a hoax, is the word that he used. Can we get your
reactions to what you think when you hear him say that?
LISA
PHILLIPS: I’ll answer that. Mr. President Donald J. Trump, I am a
registered Republican, not that that matters because this is not
political.
However, I cordially invite you to
the Capitol to meet me in person so you can understand this is not a
hoax. We are real human beings! This is real trauma!
REPORTER: What does it feel like emotionally to hear that?
UNIDENTIFIED: Devastating.
LISA PHILLIPS: It’s being gutted from the inside out. Not that I would know what that feels like, but I imagine.
It’s
the anxiety buildup with the depression and the survival mode, and then
your nervous system goes limp and ironically is shot. And it feels like
you just want to explode inside because nobody, again, is understanding
that this is a real situation.
These women are real. We’re here in person. To say that it’s a hoax is just not … Please humanize us!
I
would like Donald J. Trump and every person in America and around the
world to humanize us, to see us for who we are and to hear us for what
we have to say.
Employment
gains were so weak in the July jobs report that President Donald Trump
fired the head of the bureau charged with collecting the data,
baselessly claiming it was rigged.
But fresh
figures out Wednesday show that those meager job totals weren’t an
anomaly: For the first time in more than four years, there are fewer
open jobs than there are job seekers.
“This
is a turning point for the labor market,” Heather Long, chief economist
at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote Wednesday. “It’s yet another
crack.”
The number of job openings was an
estimated 7.18 million at the end of July, falling from a downwardly
revised 7.36 million the month before, according to Bureau of Labor
Statistics data released Wednesday.
Job
openings are now not only at their lowest level in 10 months, but
they’re also below the number of unemployed workers (at 7.2 million) for
the first time since April 2021.
In addition, REUTERS notes,
"US manufacturing contracted for a sixth straight month in August as
factories dealt with the fallout from the Trump administration’s import
tariffs, with some manufacturers describing the current business
environment as 'much worse than the Great Recession'." Will Neal (DAILY BEAST) points out:
President
Donald Trump might regret sacking his last Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) chief because the new numbers are in and they’re just as bad as
before.
Released Wednesday, the agency’s latest
Job Openings and Labor Turnover report recorded just 7.18 million
employment listings for July. It’s only the second time they’ve dipped
below 7.2 million since the last quarter of 2020, at the height of the
COVID pandemic.
It’s also lower than even
independent economists, polled by Dow Jones, had forecasted, fueling
widespread concerns of a weakening job market amid the Trump
administration’s turbulent handling of the economy and ongoing trade war
against much of the rest of the planet.
“This is a
turning point for the labor market,” Heather Long, an economist with
the Navy Federal Credit Union, told CNBC Wednesday.
“It’s
yet another crack,” she went on, adding the new figures were
“underscoring how this job market is frozen and it’s difficult for
anyone to get a job right now.”
We're not done with the news of Chump's war on the economy. Sarah K. Burris (RAW STORY) notes not only the poor job numbers but also the housing market:
When it comes to housing, things are even worse, and Long thinks that Trump should declare a "national housing emergency."
"Honestly,
it could be a good idea. Housing affordability in the US is basically
at the worst point in about 40 years. It's been stuck there for ~3 years
now," said Long.
She showed two charts that
illustrate the problem: "1) Housing unaffordability is worst in 40
years, 2) Home prices and rent prices have shot up dramatically compared
to median incomes."
"While housing is mostly a
local government issue (zoning, etc.), there are some things the
national government can do to help," Long added. 'And that list goes
well beyond the Fed lowering interest rates. We need more home building.
There are many ways to help incentivize (or subsidize) that."
It's
the same thing that real estate developers have been saying for the
past two months, CNBC reported. Quality low-income housing is too
expensive to develop and still generate the profits they seek. He's
hoping that government rescue might be on the way.
Heading
toward fall, Americans are continuing to rate the U.S. economy
negatively, as most pick "uncertain" and "struggling" to describe its
current state. Ratings dipped again slightly over the last month.
A
third of Americans pick the descriptors "rebounding" or "expanding."
(Respondents could pick multiple words.) And more than twice as many
said "unfair" as "fair."
Positive views of the
economy have been hovering in a range in the 30s all year. They had
ticked up slightly toward the end of July, though today it's above the
low hit back in the winter.
Behind those views is
much the same story as it has been for a while: Prices. Two-thirds say
prices are still going up and, perhaps more importantly for outlook,
two-thirds expect them to keep going up, at least a little.
And
what happens when you entwine voter revulsion with regards to Chump
when it comes to both Epstein and revulsion to the damaged economy? Alex Henderson explains:
Although
Donald Trump has run for president four times — first with a
short-lived Reform Party campaign in 2000, then three times as the GOP
nominee — 2024 marked the first time Trump won the national popular
vote. It was a close election: Trump only won the popular vote by
roughly 1.5 percent, but he made it past the finish line and
successfully attracted voters beyond his hardcore MAGA base. Those new
Trump voters include Latinos, independents, Gen-Z, and members of the
Manosphere.
But in an op-ed published by Bloomberg News, Nia-Malika Henderson argues that 2024 Trump voters under 35 are having buyer's remorse.
"One
of the most surprising datapoints from President Donald Trump's 2024
victory was his strength among young voters, a demographic that is
typically a core part of the Democratic base," explains Henderson, who
formerly covered politics for CNN and the Washington Post. "In 2020,
President Joe Biden won this age group (18-29) by 24 points. Yet, in
2024, Trump closed the gap, with former Vice President Kamala Harris
winning this same group by just 4 points. Now, a Pew Research Center
poll shows Trump steadily losing ground with a larger young cohort,
revealing weaknesses in the very group that helped him win in November."
If you need some video on this reality of Chump destroying the economy, here's a report from this morning's MORNING JOE.
And from earlier this week, here's FORBES.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), along
with Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Maggie Goodlander
(D-N.H.), and Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.), led 55 members of Congress in
opening a new investigation into the Trump administration’s arrest,
detention, and deportation of non-citizen service members, veterans, and
military families. The lawmakers wrote to the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) demanding an
explanation for these practices, which go against decades of precedent
and long-standing DHS policy indicating
that military service offers protection from immigration enforcement
for military service members, veterans, and their immediate family
members.
“The Trump administration’s [actions] threaten U.S. national security
interests and erode the U.S. military’s credibility when it makes
promises to its service members who have put their lives on the line for
our country,” wrote the lawmakers.
Over the past century, hundreds of thousands of immigrant service
members have fought for the nation and contributed to victories in
military conflicts. Non-citizen service members fill in recruitment gaps
and provide foreign language skills and medical expertise to the military that are difficult for recruiters to find and expensive to teach.
In April, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rescinded its
former policy of considering military service a “significant mitigating
factor” when deciding whether to pursue immigration enforcement and issued a new policy less protective of service members and their families.
Following the policy change, the wife of a Marine Corps veteran
and mother of two young children was detained by ICE during a green
card application appointment — despite having lived in the United States
for over a decade. Then, in June, a father of three Marines was repeatedly punched in the head by masked ICE agents, and a U.S. citizen
who served in the Army was rounded up in an indiscriminate raid and
held without explanation. The Trump administration’s actions against
veterans and non-citizen military families have even prompted at least
one veteran to leave the United States.
Multiple constituents affected by the administration’s reckless
changes to immigration protections for military families have shared
their stories with representatives in Congress. For example, Sae Joon Park,
a disabled Purple Heart veteran residing in Hawaii, was forced to
self-deport by the Trump administration despite having lived in the U.S.
for nearly five decades. Additionally, Maria Pelaez,
a mother of an active-duty U.S. Marine, was detained by ICE, and ICE
has refused to release her despite a judge’s decision to grant her bond.
The Trump administration may be targeting military families using
information they voluntarily provided to the federal government in
connection with their service. When applying for immigration benefits, like “parole in place,” military families provide extensive personal data,
including their physical addresses, physically-identifying information
like eye color and height, country of birth, and more. Now, USCIS may be
using that information to refer service members or their families to
ICE for removal proceedings, even if they were previously deprioritized
for enforcement actions.
Even as the administration took steps to backtrack on its previous
immigration enforcement protections, military recruiters continued using
immigration benefits as a talking point to recruit non-citizens, “promoting enlistment
as a way to gain ‘protection from deportation’ for family members.”
Only recently did the Marines stop the practice and it is unclear
whether other military services continue to use this recruitment tactic.
“We demand an explanation for why DHS is betraying its promises to
service members who play a key role in protecting U.S. national
security,” wrote the members.
The coalition asked the two agencies to provide, by September 16,
2025: information about the number of non-citizens serving in the
military; a list of service members, veterans, and family members who
have been arrested, detained, or deported since January 2025; the impact
of these new immigration policies on recruitment, readiness, and
morale; what information about non-citizen service members and military
family members the Pentagon provides DHS and ICE; and more.
Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ruben
Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii),
Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy
Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Catherine Cortez Masto
(D-Nev.), Patty Murrary (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla
(D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders
(I-Vt.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Peter
Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) joined in signing the letter.
House: Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Nanette Barragan
(D-Calif.), Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Sean Casten
(D-Ill.), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Jason Crow
(D-Colo.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Lloyd Doggett
(D-Texas), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Cleo Fields (D-La.), John Garamendi
(D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), Jonathan
Jackson (D-Ill.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Henry Johnson (D-Ga.), John
Larson (D-Conn.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Kelly Morrison (D-Minn.),
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Scott Peters
(D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Hilary Scholten (D-Mich.), Eric
Swalwell (D-Calif.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Derek
Tran (D-Calif.), and Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) joined in signing the
letter.
Jack
Schlossberg, the social media star and grandson of President John F.
Kennedy, is considering running for Congress next year to replace
longtime Democratic stalwart Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who announced his
retirement plans earlier this week.
Schlossberg,
32, has never held public office, but told The New York Times on
Tuesday that it was “certainly a possibility” he would run to fill
Nadler’s seat, a highly prized New York City district spanning the
center of Manhattan.
The 32-year-old Yale and
Harvard graduate, the son of former diplomat Caroline Kennedy, has risen
to fame in recent years, mixing political commentary and social media
influencing, including serving as a political correspondent for Vogue
during the 2024 election. He currently hosts a political commentary show
on YouTube, recording episodes from inside his van.
Schlossberg
is also a regular, scathing critic of family member Robert F. Kennedy,
Jr., the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services secretary and
the 32-year-old’s cousin.
Following
the deadly mass shooting at a Minneapolis church last week, Health
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a press conference that he sees
mass shootings as “a health crisis.” That much is true and supported by
research. But then Kennedy shared that “we’re looking for the first time
at psychiatric drugs” as a culprit.
Kennedy
also said during a Fox News appearance that he is interested in “the
potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other
psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence.”
Kennedy’s
comments connecting mass shootings with psychiatric medications like
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are not only baseless,
but they also dangerously contort the conversation surrounding mental
health, violence and care in America.
There’s
also a fundamental contradiction at play in the conservative theory that
mass shootings are the result of mental health and not guns — yet
according to Kennedy, a loud and leading voice in President Donald
Trump’s administration, also the result of the medication commonly
prescribed to treat mental health. Not only do Kennedy’s ill-informed
and reckless comments spread dangerous misinformation, but they also
fracture a party line that the Trump administration in particular has
long clung to: that America’s disproportionate rate of gun violence and
mass shootings is a result of poor mental health, not the proliferation
of guns, inadequate gun control and glorification of gun culture.
What
unfolds when leaders peddle misinformation is not just academic — it
reverberates in daily life, and it can discourage people from seeking
help and deepen the stigma that already prevents so many from accessing
care.
Let’s start with the facts: The
scientific evidence does not support a link between SSRIs and acts of
violence, or mass shootings. Decades of research have examined whether
antidepressants provoke violent behavior; the findings remain
consistent: No direct causal association has been found, especially in
adults.
He is a danger. I also have to wonder about the feckless of character of someone who would be married to such a danger. Brett Samuels (THE HILL) notes that Junior's crazy puts Chump at risk:
President
Trump is facing a quandary over his legacy and political outlook in the
face of growing fissures at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) over vaccine policy.
Trump has
aligned himself closely with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert
F. Kennedy Jr. and the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement,
and with them a swath of supporters who are skeptical of vaccines.
But
in doing so, Trump has made it more difficult to embrace what he has
called arguably his greatest accomplishment: the rapid development of an
effective vaccine against COVID-19. And it could pose a threat to his
political fortunes if Kennedy presses ahead with drastic changes to
vaccine policy.
It has created a political
minefield for Trump. The president has expressed admiration for the
Kennedy name, and he teamed with Kennedy and his coalition during the
2024 campaign to win the White House and launch the MAHA movement.
But
strategists and officials close to the White House told The Hill that
if the administration unwinds vaccine approvals or makes effective shots
more difficult to get, it will lead to not only potential public health
crises, but political backlash with some voters.
“Ultimately,
it’s the politics. … Does the benefit Trump gets from keeping Kennedy
there with MAHA people outweigh the cost with suburban swing voters with
some of the changes?” one official who worked in the first Trump
administration said. “And that’s the calculus at the end of the day.
Right now, it’s good to keep him around.”
Only with someone as unpopular as Chump would Junior be seen as an asset.
A
national coalition of health professionals and scientists is warning
Americans not to believe any new alleged causes for autism spectrum
disorder announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
as the agency prepares to reveal “interventions” contributing to the
rising rates of the condition.
The
group, called Defend Public Health, urges the public to confirm
whatever new information is released from HHS with other sources before
accepting it as fact, especially if it related to a possible link
between vaccines and autism.
HHS Secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told President Donald Trump last week that the
agency is on track to identify “interventions” that are “certainly
causing autism” along with possible ways to address them by September.
He pledged to find the cause for the growing number of autism diagnoses in the country in April, calling it an “epidemic.”
Kennedy
has said he believes environmental factors or vaccines are likely
behind the growing rate of autism spectrum disorder, arguing that
federal authorities have blocked research supporting these claims.
On
Wednesday, DPH released a report explaining the numerous scientific
studies that show vaccines “without a doubt” do not cause autism.
Nothing but lies from Chump and his administration. Today, disgusting Donald made a point to attack the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Wednesday, September 3, 2025. Epstein survivors to hold press
conference this morning, Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson thinks he
can trick people, Chump can't escape the Epstein topic anymore than he
can stop the decaying of his own flesh, and much more.
At
the end of the 80s, Donald Chump began his friendships with sex
traffickers and pedophiles Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. This friendship lasted until at least 2007.
Chump was very cozy with Epstein and having recently moved Ghislaine
Maxwell to Club Fed in Bryan, Texas, he clearly remains tight with
Maxwell.
If you don't get just how disgusting
the deal he made with Ghislaine was or just how Todd Blanche refused to
ask questions of Maxwell during their two days of 'interviews,' make a
point to stream the video below from THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE
O'DONNELL.
We
should all be appalled at the way Todd Blanche kissed the ass of a
convicted felon serving a 20 year sentence for sex trafficking. A
convicted felon was allowed to lie repeatedly and was never once
challenged. But she was laughed with, Blanche laughed with her and made
her feel comfortable as she lied non-stop.
Last night, Ben did a very important report for MEIDASTOUCH NEWS.
The reason it feels like Congress doesn’t exist anymore is because it functionally doesn’t,
but also because this summer vacation was extended. House Republicans
tucked tail and left early after fearing the possibility of having to
vote for transparency about the biggest underage sex ring in U.S.
history, which gives you a good sense of where we are with that party
right now.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had six weeks to figure out how to manage
the intra-party rebellion over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Republican
members were still getting an earful
at home, so ducking a vote wasn’t practical. But Johnson needed to
uphold his prime directive of acting as a human shield for the president
and keeping his name out of any revelations.
So after weeks of rumination, here’s what Johnson came up with: a resolution,
hastily added to the week’s floor voting schedule on Monday, that would
“direct” the House Oversight Committee to continue investigating the
federal cases against Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, which is already in
progress. In other words, Johnson would have the House vote to do
something it is effectively already doing.
The word you may be grasping for is “misdirection.”
This resolution is being floated for a vote to keep people away from a bipartisan bill
from Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Tom Massie (R-KY), which would directly
compel the relevant government agencies to release all relevant files.
Yesterday, Khanna and Massie launched the discharge petition process
for their bill. If it gets signatures from a majority of House members,
that bill will have to come to the floor, and the co-authors say they
already have that many in hand. They’re holding a press conference this morning with victims of Epstein’s sex ring.
Johnson’s gambit is to claim that he’s already giving supporters of
releasing the files a vote, so they shouldn’t have to sign onto the
discharge petition. That is the hard sell that both the House Republican
leadership and the White House, which is apparently whipping members to not sign onto the discharge petition, are making.
This is as much about Johnson controlling what gets on his House floor (which could trigger other bypass attempts, like on a congressional stock trading ban), but it’s based on a misimpression that the “attaboy Oversight Committee” resolution is the same as the Khanna-Massie bill.
Let's stop for a moment do deal with something of a housekeeping issue.
And
clicking on that takes you to the renamed reports "What’s in the batch
of Epstein files just released by a House committee" at THE NEWSHOUR.
Here's the transcript of the video they released and then a few hour
later killed.
Amna Nawaz:
Welcome to the "News Hour."
Congress is back in
Washington tonight, and the clock is already ticking. Lawmakers have
less than one month to avoid a government shutdown.
Geoff Bennett:
On the table, a fierce fight over billions in spending
cuts, some 30,000 pages worth of Jeffrey Epstein-related files that
Republicans just posted tonight online, and the Senate moving to
fast-track President Trump's nominees.
Our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, joins us now.
So, Lisa, it's always great to see you.
Let's start with the possible government shutdown at the end of the month. We are weeks away. How likely is it?
Lisa Desjardins:
It is possible.
Let's take people through exactly
how this is going to work, what we know. First of all, the deadline is
September 30 to fund most of government. Now, any deal needs 60 Senate
votes. So, of course, that means likely at least seven Democrats would
have to get on board.
Now, that's led to this situation where, of
course, Democrats know they have leverage here. They don't have leverage
in a lot of cases. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries today told
reporters, including myself, that he's looking for a bipartisan
solution. But what that really means is, he wants some concessions.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY):
That spending bill has to be both bipartisan, a product
of negotiation, and it's got to serve the interests of the American
people in terms of their health, safety, national security, and economic
well-being.
Lisa Desjardins:
Health, safety, national security, economic, that covers everything. So, there's a lot on the table for him.
And
this is the man really to watch, Senate Democratic leader Chuck
Schumer. It's his vote that Republicans will need to get a funding bill
through, or it could be his decision to try to go all the way to a
government shutdown. It is very much on the table, a risky decision for
Democrats either way.
The pressure is on them to stand up to
President Trump, try and get some policy changes. But some Democrats say
a shutdown might benefit Trump.
Geoff Bennett:
And why are they feeling the pressure this week, Lisa?
Lisa Desjardins:
Right.
It seems like the 30th is a long way away.
It's not. One reason is because, in the middle of the month, there will
be a recess, a full week. So really it's just about two or three weeks
they have. And, remember, they're only in town three days a week mostly.
Geoff Bennett:
Let's talk about the other big news tonight.
The
House Oversight Committee released tens of thousands of pages of
documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. There had been
Republicans calling for more transparency, and this appears to be a step
in that direction?
Lisa Desjardins:
Right.
And a reminder, we're talking about Jeffrey
Epstein. He's the financier accused of sex crimes. His conspirator,
Ghislaine Maxwell, was sent to prison for those crimes. He also was
connected with many high-profile individuals, friends with Donald Trump,
though Trump has disavowed him since.
Here's what we got tonight,
documents like this, 33,000-plus pages of them. But I want to point
out, this document, our producer Matt Loffman quickly figured out, is
public. This is not something that is special to the Department of
Justice. This is something you could find on the Supreme Court's Web
site. This is Ghislaine Maxwell's — part of her appeal case.
So a
lot of this are legal documents. Going through them, we really don't
know how much of it is new. But I am told from House Oversight
Republicans that these are all the documents that DOJ has given them so
far.
Democrats have said, first of all, that these 34,000
documents is just 1 percent of the total. Now, Republicans are worried
about something else going on. That's a bipartisan effort by two — two
Republican — two members of Congress, Democratic Representative Ro
Khanna there on the right and then Thomas Massie of Kentucky. They are
trying to make an end run around House leadership to force release of
all documents, make them all public.
But the question is if the
votes are there. And, today, Speaker Johnson made it clear he doesn't
want that effort. And I think this release tonight is an attempt to try
and take votes away from that end run, so a lot in play. Do we know that
much more about Jeffrey Epstein tonight? Not yet. We will see.
Geoff Bennett:
Yes. Well, more to come on that front.
Again, I don't have time for people's bulls**t or their cowrdice.
I
counted fifty e-mails in the public account. I don't have time for
that, Martha and Shirley don't have time for that. If you make my life
harder, I don't give a damn about you.
I'll get
a call from at least two PBS friends when this goes up and I know
they'll have 101 excuses. But I don't give a damn. You've made my
morning harder and it's just not worth it to me to promote you or your
work if you're going to be a little coward and pull it. Related. It's
Wednesday. Will Ava and I do a piece at THIRD? Probably not. Everyone
else got Labor Day weekend off. But were supposed to now do -- on a
Wednesday -- a media piece? I've got enough on my plate. It's
Wednesday We'll do one this weekend but neither of us is in the mood to
spend three to four hours writing a piece today.
Republican
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) plans to take steps Tuesday to push for a
vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files — and suggested a shadowy
billionaire in the famous "black book" is out to get him.
Lawmakers
are back from summer recess, and Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) were
expected to file a discharge petition aimed at compelling the Department
of Justice to fully release all files related to the disgraced
financier's case. The bipartisan effort is underway from the House
Oversight Committee to uncover the files despite pushback from
Republican leaders.
"Jobs, the economy,
those are always the big issues, but you really can't solve any of that
if this place is corrupt," Massie told CNN.
CNN reporter Manu Raju asked, "What do you mean, if this place is corrupt?"
"Well,
I mean, if they're going to cover up for rich and powerful and
politically connected people, which is still what is happening right now
here," Massie said.
Massie, who has faced off
with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and the Trump administration over
calling for the release of the files, continues to face attacks.
"Look,
I got three billionaires right now running ads against me in Kentucky,
and one of them is in Epstein's black book. So I'm not worried about
it," Massie said. "I've already poked the hornet's nest here, and, you
know, once you're in for a penny, you're in for a pound. We're going to
get these files released."
First, Isn't
Alien Musk financing commercials against Massie, by the way. Musk had a
very tight relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Second, "we're going to get these files released"?
Not if Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson has anything to say about it. Ailia Zehra noted Johnson does want a discharge effort to succeed:
House
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pushed back Tuesday against the bipartisan
effort led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to
force release of the files related to convicted pedophile Jeffrey
Epstein, dismissing the effort as "meaningless."
“I
would describe virtually everything Thomas Massie says related to this
issue as meaningless. That’s my response," he told reporters on Capitol
Hill Tuesday.
House
GOP leaders on Tuesday morning added to this week’s House schedule a
vote on a resolution directing the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee to continue its investigation into matters surrounding
convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The
addition comes as leaders contend with an alternative push to force a
vote on a bill that would direct the Trump administration to release
more Epstein material.
What's
going on? The discharge voice would demand all the paperwork. Speaker
of the Closet Johnson won't be able to run interference on behalf of
the White House if the discharge option is implemented. The only way he
can cover for Donald Chump is by ensuring that the House votes to
continue down the same road. That would be the wasted road that
resulted in the Dept of (Mis)Justice releasing to Congress last month . .
. papers already publicly available as the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee noted in a press release yesterday:
Washington, D.C. —
Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform, issued the following statement after Chairman James
Comer released to the public the partial batch of Epstein files from the
Department of Justice, consisting largely of already public
information. The original partial release failed to meet the
Department’s legal obligation to provide the full, unredacted documents
to the Committee while protecting victims and censoring child sexual
abuse materials.
“The 33,000 pages of
Epstein documents James Comer has decided to ‘release’ were already
mostly public information. To the American people – don’t let this fool
you.
After careful review, Oversight
Democrats have found that 97% of the documents received from the
Department of Justice were already public. There is no mention of any
client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for
victims.
House Republicans are trying
to make a spectacle of releasing already-public documents. Pam Bondi has
said the client list was on her desk. She could release it right now if
she wanted to.
While Comer tries to
give cover to Trump by re-releasing public documents, House Democrats
are fighting for real transparency. Pam Bondi must comply with our
subpoena immediately, and release all of the documents. The American
people demand it.”
Oversight Committee
Democrats’ initial review revealed that of the 33,295 pages of documents
released to the Committee, only three percent contained any new
information. The remaining 97% of pages included information previously
released by the Department of Justice, the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement or the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s office.
These include:
Video from the Metropolitan Correctional Center from the night of Epstein’s death
Supreme Court filings from Ghislaine Maxwell
Court filings from U.S. v. Maxwell
Court transcript from U.S. v. Maxwell
A Department of Justice Office of Inspector General Report on Epstein’s death
A memo from Attorney General Pamela Bondi to FBI Director Kash Patel on releasing the Epstein files
Communications between the Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice regarding the death of Epstein
Police reports and court filings from Epstein’s criminal case in Florida
The only new disclosure:
Less
than 1,000 pages from the Customs and Border Protection’s log of flight
locations of the Epstein plane from 2000-2014 and forms consistent with
reentry back to the U.S.
###
Johnson
thinks he can con people. I don't know about that.
This
morning MEIDASTOUCH NEWS already has a video up about the press
conference later this morning and Ben notes that MTN will be streaming
it live on YOUTUBE. The press conference is supposed to start around
10:30 this morning EST.
Yesterday, NBC NEWS spoke with some Epstein survivors.
On
Tuesday, US President Donald Trump made a first public official
appearance in the Oval Office after a short disappearance this weekend,
with many remarking on his 'rough' look.
About
45 minutes late for his own 2 p.m. Oval Office press conference to
announce that U.S. Space Command will be located in Alabama, reversing a
Biden-era decision to keep it at its temporary headquarters in
Colorado, he kept his speech unusually short. While Trump is often very
late for his scheduled events, this one comes after 'death' rumors
swirled over the weekend, with many questioning the President's health.
One
liberal political commentator pointed out, "He looks rough and more
orange than normal. Wonder if the press will ask the important question
of why he was absent for a week." It comes after a Trump body double conspiracy theory emerged.
[. . .]
More
users began to point out Trump's look as he made the announcement. "His
eyes are still funky. Somethings wrong," one person said. Another
added, "Looks like it took an extra 50 minutes to make him look alert
and camera ready."
Another person pointed out
that Trump's hands has more makeup than usual, as he has been warned
lately about the bruises on his hands being a warning sign of something
worse. "He looks rough. Extra hand makeup applied," they wrote.
Donald Trump sparked more concerns over his health during a Tuesday, September 2, interview with Scott Jennings.
“I’m
always disappointed in him,” a very stuffy Trump said when discussing
Russian President Vladimir Putin. “He and I always had a great
relationship. Very disappointed. Thousands of people are dying.”
[. . .]
X
users were quick to pipe in, with one saying it “backs the stroke
hypothesis” as “stroke patients can sound ‘nasally’ due to dysarthria
and muscle weakness impacting the soft palate.”
“They
sound ‘strained,’ ‘hoarse’ and ‘nasal or hyponasal,’” they continued.
“So his voice actually continues to support the mild stroke position.”
“He’s
struggling to breathe,” another person said. “Respiratory issues are
indicative of a stroke. This along with his edema (swelling of the
ankles) and cardiac problems are signs that the end is imminent.”
Another person surmised Trump has COVID, which would he explain why “he sounds congested."
Let's
talk about Jane Fonda. In the 80s, as she built her Workout franchise
-- and made a lot of money for the CED and, later, Campaign for
California, certain Republicans got a British rag to run a lie (the
publication knew it was a lie) that she'd had a heart attack. The day
after that lie hit the press, Jane showed up at one of her studios and
invited the press as she led a Workout class to show that, no, she had
not had a heart attack.
So
where was Chump's workout? No where to be found. If he had a stroke
-- and he may have -- or if he didn't, nothing he did in public on
Tuesday dispels those rumors.
Jane
grasped that certain right-wingers in this country feared her
popularity and the money she was raising for solid causes. So she put
an end to the lie immediately by providing proof that she was healthy
and photos ran in papers around the world while videos of that morning's
workout made all the news programs like GOOD MORNING AMERICA.
That's how she ended a lie.
Somehow,
Chump either didn't care that much about what people were saying about
him (which is a first for him) or he's unable to prove he didn't have a
stroke.
I have no idea. I've never been one of his groupies so I have no reason to lie for him.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Washington, D.C. — Following a new D.C. District Court ruling in the landmark antitrust case involving Google, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the following statement:
“The
court previously ruled that Google’s search business is an illegal
monopoly, but now the judge’s remedies fail to hold Google accountable
for breaking the law. Instead of restoring competition and ending
Google’s dominance, this ruling is a slap on the wrist for unlawful
behavior that warranted the breakup of this tech giant.
“Now it’s up to the Trump Justice Department and state attorneys
general to appeal or risk emboldening even more lawbreaking by Big Tech
monopolies.
“While the Trump Justice Department considers an appeal to break up
Google, YouTube and Google executives are negotiating with Trump’s
lawyers to settle a dubious case for potentially millions of dollars and
raising serious concerns of corruption in plain sight.”
