8 ounces dried udon, ramen, soba, lo mein, or spaghetti noodles
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari, preferably low-sodium
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil, divided
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon Asian chili-garlic sauce, such as sambal oelek (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the noodles
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
8 ounces baby spinach (about 8 packed cups)
Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Bring
a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add 8 ounces dried noodles and
cook for 1 minute less than the package instructions. Meanwhile, whisk
1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon of the
toasted sesame oil, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1
teaspoon Asian chili-garlic sauce if using, and 2 minced garlic cloves
together in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl.
Drain the noodles and rinse well under cool water.
Heat
the remaining 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil in a large high-sided
skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add 1 pound lean ground
beef and season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black
pepper. Cook, breaking up the meat into medium pieces, until browned and
cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. In the last minute of cooking, stir in 1
tablespoon sesame seeds.
Reduce the heat to medium. Stir in 8
ounces baby spinach a few handfuls at a time. Whisk the sauce again,
then add the sauce and noodles to the skillet. Cook, tossing regularly,
until the spinach is just wilted and combined well with the beef and
noodles, about 1 minute. Garnish with more sesame seeds and thinly
sliced scallions if desired.
She
said this is their Saturday night meal of late. They all go into the
kitchen and everyone helps out. This is great because it gives you time
to spend with one another and it's great because it makes sure that
your kids grow up knowing that they can handle the kitchen, that they
can go in there and cook something.
U.S.
consumer prices increased by the most in nearly four years in March as
the war with Iran boosted oil prices and the pass-through from tariffs
persisted, further diminishing chances for an interest rate cut this
year.
The Consumer Price Index
jumped 0.9% last month, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor
Statistics said on Friday, the largest increase since June 2022 when
prices soared in response to the Russia-Ukraine war. Consumer prices
rose 0.3% in February.
In the 12 months through March, the CPI advanced 3.3% after rising 2.4% in February.
Economists
polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI accelerating 0.9% and increasing
3.3% year-on-year. The jump in consumer inflation followed in the wake
of a sharp rebound in job growth last month, which suggested the labor
market remained stable.
There are, however,
concerns that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East could undercut the
labor market, especially if households respond to high prices by
pulling back spending.
Our
economy was not doing well before Chump decided to go to war on Iran.
It is now doing significantly worse. He knew this and yet he started
this war of choice. He is an idiot, a fool, a con artist, a
charlatan.
Friday, April 10, 2026. Melania Trump steps into The Epstein Files,
Pete Hegseth is accusedof misrepresenting an attack on US service
members, speculation continues to grow that Hegseth my be the next
Cabinet member fired, the White House made a not-so-veiled threat
against Pope Leo, Kristi Noem caught in yet another lie, and much more.
Justine Fernandez (BLUSHER ME) reports, "New
data is raising concerns about the strength of the US labor market,
delivering a stark warning for Donald Trump as confidence among workers
continues to decline. Surveys and economic indicators suggest that
Americans are growing increasingly uneasy about job security and future
employment prospects."
And guess what? That's about as close as Chump comes to good news.
"Lies!" proclaimed First Lady Melania Chump from the White House yesterday. "Lies!' Donald Judd (CNN) reports:
First
lady Melania Trump blasted “lies linking me to the disgraceful Jeffrey
Epstein” in remarks from the White House Thursday, attempting to
distance herself from the convicted sex offender while calling on
Congress to hold hearings allowing his victims to testify on Capitol
Hill.
“I have never been friends
with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein
from time to time, since overlapping in social circles is common in New
York City and Palm Beach,” the first lady said in remarks to reporters.
“To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice,
[Ghislaine] Maxwell.”
Her
call for allowing the survivors to testify? A good call. Would have
been better to have called for Pam Bondi to honor her subpoena and
appear before the House Oversight Committee. As for her relationship
with Epstein and Maxwell? There are many photos of her with Epstein.
All have Donald in them as well. So maybe she was the reluctant
girlfriend going out on a foursome with someone she didn't care for and
ignored during dinner. Could be. But she and Maxwell? We do have the
e-mail. Where she wrote Maxwell a gushing note and called her "G." And
if she truly was avoiding Epstein, that would mean she'd be talking to
Maxwell when the foursome was out on the town.
"Lies"? It appears there are lies -- even at least one coming from Melania's mouth.
Trump
also said “Epstein was not alone,” hinting at other potential abusers.
She noted that several prominent executives resigned over their
relationships with Epstein.
“Of course, this doesn’t amount to guilt,” Trump said. “But we still must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth.”
THE DAILY DIGEST notes, "On
March 17th, The Telegraph reported that recent findings from the
left-leaning, new media organization Zeteo found that over half of
people in the United States believed that Trump started the war with
Iran to distract the country from the Epstein files scandal."
U.S.
military service members claimed the Pentagon was not telling the truth
about Iran's deadliest attack on America's troops during President
Donald Trump's most recent war.
CBS News reported that survivors of the attack that killed six and wounded 20 were "left dangerously exposed" when they were attacked in Kuwait.
According
to the surviving members, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was wrong when
he said they were attacked by a drone "squirter," which squirted
through defense systems.
"Painting a picture
that 'one squeaked through' is a falsehood," one injured soldier told
the network. "I want people to know the unit … was unprepared to provide
any defense for itself. It was not a fortified position."
Before
the March 1 attack, soldiers said they received an all-clear alert
declaring that there were no incoming attacks. Only 30 minutes later,
"everything shook," one service member recalled.
A
simmering battle for influence between Pete Hegseth and the Army
Secretary Dan Driscoll has reached new heights with the Defense
secretary’s purge of senior Army officials last week.
Tensions
flared when Driscoll was picked last year by President Trump to
negotiate with Ukrainian officials in hopes of ending the Russia-Ukraine
war, according to two former U.S. officials familiar with the
dynamics. A current U.S. official said Hegseth’s “paranoia” has been
heightened in recent weeks as the president has fired two Cabinet
officials.
“He’s just really uncomfortable with anyone
who could potentially be outshining him,” the current official, who
spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal dynamics, told
The Hill about Hegseth.
[. . .]
Hegseth’s firing of Driscoll’s widely respected chief of staff,
Gen. Randy George, along with two other senior military officials last
week, stunned defense officials as the U.S. is engaged in a war against
Iran, the current official said. The firing came on the heels of the
Pentagon chief ending the suspension of the Army crew who flew a pair of
military helicopters near Kid Rock’s house in Tennessee, undercutting
an Army investigation into the incident.
The ouster of George prompted some Republicans to rally behind the decorated general,
who deployed in support of Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi
Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. On Capitol Hill, it has shaken
some GOP lawmakers who have largely backed Hegseth despite a series of
scandals during his tenure, according to the first former U.S. official,
who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth’s continuing over-the-top press conferences
about the Iran war are not doing Donald Trump any favors due to his
childish behavior, leading MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough to suggest the
president may want to put an end to Hegseth's "humiliating" antics.
Reacting to the Wednesday Pentagon press conference,
where the former Fox News personality boasted about the president’s
ceasefire agreement that was already in the process of falling apart,
the “Morning Joe” host compared Hegseth repeatedly to a grossly immature
elementary school student.
Speaking
with co-hosts Willie Geist and Mika Brzezinski, Scarborough exclaimed,
“To see [Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General] Kaine have to stand
there while Pete Hegseth is doing all of this, like third-grade chest
thumping, like he's out on the back on the playground –– and then
General Kaine having to say, ‘Well, you know, we're still still
basically at war and Americans could still die here,’ it's just, again, I
just, I'm just shocked.”
“I really am, that
Donald Trump, at this late stage with Pete Hegseth humiliating him and
the administration every day with his stupid routine,” he added.
“Third-grade routine; I'm just shocked he's still allowed to go out
there in front of a microphone because he just embarrasses himself and
he sets Donald Trump and this administration and this country up for
continued humiliation at the hands of the Iranians.”
He's still allowed to go out there in front of a
microphone? He just embarrasses himself? He sets Donald Trump and this
administration and this country up for continued humiliation? Maybe
not for much longer if he gets fired. Christopher Sharp (THE MIRROR) reports on speculation as to who might be the next person Chump gives a pink slip to:
Michael
J Montgomery, a former US diplomat and lecturer at the University of
Michigan-Dearborn, identifies two potential candidates – United States
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and United States
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, reports the Mirror.
This
speculation emerged after Trump's threats to eliminate a "whole
civilisation" on his Truth Social platform earlier this week, prior to
agreeing to the ceasefire.
Explaining why these
two officials could face termination next, Michael told Reach: "If this
goes bad as I suspect it will, Tulsi Gabbard will be next out the door
because Trump is much more prone to firing women than men
"Hegseth
is likely to follow shortly thereafter - especially if the career
military people don't implement each and every Trump order no matter how
illegal or deranged."
While Trump ultimately
didn't bring about the end of civilization, Michael maintained his
belief that Hegseth and Gabbard would be the next to exit.
He
elaborated: "Trump takes the blame for nothing himself and those two
are the logical fall people in the event of poor intelligence or poor
execution undermining his war on Iran."
Trump
takes the blame for nothing himself? True. On MEIDASTOUCH NEWS this
morning, Ben notes how Chump's cease-fire is crumbling and how Chump
spent the night on social media attacking everyone he could.
The
Vatican has cancelled a papal visit to the U.S. for the 250th
anniversary celebration after Pentagon officials appeared to threaten
the leader of the Catholic Church for speaking out against Trump's
foreign policy.
Pope Leo XIV—the first American
Pope in history—strongly condemned U.S. actions in Iran though not by
name in his Easter message, stating that God "does not listen" to world
leaders who wage war.
Leo had already criticized
Trump's actions on Venezuela and his threats against Greenland and
Canada in a speech on January 9th stating, "a diplomacy that promotes
dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a
diplomacy based on force."
In response,
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby summoned Cardinal
Christophe Pierre—the Vatican ambassador to the U.S.—to a meeting. In
diplomatic parlance, an ambassador being summoned to meet with
government officials for a lecture is the first stage in disciplinary
action that can lead to a break off of diplomatic ties.
It
is being reported by The Free Press that in the meeting Colby told
Pierre, "The United States has the military power to do whatever it
wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side."
Someone
in the meeting then reportedly mentioned the Avignon Papacy to Pierre.
This refers to a 14th century attack on the Vatican by the French king,
in which Pope Boniface VIII was murdered by assassins and the Vatican
was forced to relocate to Avignon where it could be controlled by the
French crown for the next 67 years.
The
controversy surrounding the meeting is likely to further inflame
religious pushback to an unusual wave of spiritual saber-rattling by
President Donald Trump’s administration — particularly surrounding the
U.S. government’s military actions in Iran, which the president himself
has suggested are the will of God. Combined with his other incendiary
remarks about the war, the increase in faith-filled militaristic
rhetoric is pitting Trump and his administration against a growing list
of faith leaders, ranging from local clergy to the pope.
Faith
leaders have reacted with frustration to the administration’s penchant
for invoking the divine when discussing the Iran war, which was on full
display earlier Wednesday when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth led a
press briefing at the Pentagon on the five-week-long war with Iran.
After insisting Tuesday evening’s fragile ceasefire deal between the
U.S. and Iran was evidence of a broader military victory, the secretary
intimated the pause in fighting was the result of divine intervention.
After
MS NOW host Willie Geist reported on the exchange, contributor Mike
Barnicle, a lifelong Catholic, made a compelling case that the president
and his underlings created a massive and enduring problem for themselves.
“What do you make of what you're hearing here?” Geist prompted his guest.
“I
make that they are once again clowning the atmosphere up, the Trump
administration, the idea that they would try to intimidate Pope Leo, the
first American-born pope, is just absurd,"the incensed Barnicle
replied.“The idea that they would have anything to say critical of the
Catholic church or the pope itself, the pope himself is absurd,
especially given the Easter morning tweet from the president of the
United States, which was so deeply offensive to any breathing, thinking
human being that it's outrageous for the Trump administration to pose
any problems they allege they have with the Vatican.”
“I
went to parochial school for eight consecutive years, and I got thrown
out nearly every year by the nuns. You know, every grade — you deserve
early stuff like that,” he recalled. But the one thing that you get to,
to hold on to when you're raised Catholic, born Catholic, raised
Catholic, especially by my mother, we used to call her 'my mother, the
nun.' The one thing you retain, I would think, is that the theory of the
Catholic church is rooted in a simple phrase: the least among us.”
“So
if you look at the Trump administration's behavior toward the least
among us, it is almost criminal,” he accused. “It is certainly a sin
because they don't care for the least among us, and that we should all
care for the least among us. Because when we care for them, we care for
ourselves.”
In the wake of the meeting, the Pope reportedly refused Trump's invitation to attend the nation's 250th anniversary events.
Instead
of spending July 4th in the U.S., the Pope will instead visit
Lampedusa, a small Mediterranean island that has become an entry point
for African migrants attempting to reach Europe.
A Vatican official speaking to The Free Press said the Pope has no plans to visit the U.S. while Trump is in office.
“The Pope may well never visit the United States under this administration," the official reportedly said.
Pope Leo has called out the war on Iran and he has called out the US war on immigrants. Earlier this week, we noted Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez:
The
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Sacramento was launching a
probe Tuesday after a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers near San
Jose, California.
KNTV reported that the Tuesday morning shooting shut down on- and off-ramps on Interstate 5 and Sperry Avenue in Patterson, California. Lauren Mascarenhas (CNN) adds, "Immigration
and Customs Enforcement agents were involved in a shooting that sent
one person to the hospital while they were conducting a targeted traffic
stop in California’s Central Valley, the agency said Tuesday." Uwa Ede-Osifo (GUARDIAN) reports that the man shot was Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez:
Hernandez was hospitalized after the shooting. A spokesperson for the
Stanislaus county sheriff’s office, which has jurisdiction over
Patterson, declined to comment on Hernandez’s condition.
We
ignored the assertions made by DHS because DHS has a known history of
lying. And now the things DHS claimed? Not seeming very accurate at
all. Terry Chea and Christopher Weber (AP) report:
An
attorney for a man shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
agents during an arrest in central California said Wednesday that his
client did not try to run over officers with his car and disputed claims
that he has a warrant out for his arrest in El Salvador.
[. . .]
Attorney
Patrick Kolasinski, who is representing Mendoza and his family, said
during a news conference that his client has been stopped for minor
traffic infractions but has no criminal record in the U.S. and is not
the subject of an arrest warrant in El Salvador, where he was acquitted
of murder.
Kolasinski said he has found no
evidence his client was part of any street gang but he added he has not
had the chance to talk to him to confirm that.
“If
he was released after being acquitted, with no other holds on him, he
cannot have a warrant,” Kolasinski said. “So that information must be
either erroneous or completely made up. And only DHS knows what they’re
looking at.”
According to a Oct. 25, 2019 court
document from a judge in El Salvador, Mendoza, who was 29 at the time,
was acquitted after being accused of murder and ordered immediately
released. The document lists 10 others who were convicted of various
crimes from aggravated robbery to murder, and mentions at least one of
them was a member of the 18th Street Gang. But there is no mention of
Mendoza belonging to a gang or being accused of carrying out gang
activity in the document.
As
we noted before, DHS has a history of lying to the public and to the
courts. This has taken place for over a year now. We do not take DHS
seriously in their statements as a result of their repeated lies.
Whether they will get honest under the new Secretary of Homeland
Security Mark Mulllin remains to be seen but their reputation is bad and
they earned it. Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) notes how
A
federal judge has paused the Trump administration's decision to
terminate temporary protected status (TPS) for Ethiopians who came to
the United States, ruling that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi
Noem didn't follow the legal procedure for doing so.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy of Massachusetts penned a scathing analysis of the decision
to eliminate TPS under the Trump administration, finding that it
certainly wasn't appropriate in the case of Ethiopia, where people would
still face substantial danger if forced to return there.
"As
of the date of the executive order, entitled 'Protecting the American
People Against Invasion,' seventeen countries had TPS designations. In
the twelve months between the issuance of the order and filing of this
suit, Secretary Noem announced the termination of twelve TPS countries —
every single TPS country for which she conducted a periodic review
during that period," wrote Murphy. "Perhaps it has been a banner year
for disaster recovery and geopolitical stability worldwide. The
evidence, and common sense, suggests otherwise."
Indeed,
he wrote, "The administrative record is replete with evidence,
including reports by DHS itself from as recent as August and September
of 2025, that armed conflict and natural disasters continue to create
dangerous conditions in Ethiopia."
So
you get it? Kristi lied. That's what the judge is saying. Kristi, as
Secretary of Homeland Security, lied. As she did daily. As her
spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin did.
Let's wind down by noting this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
ICYMI:
Murray on Trump’s Budget Request: “Imagine how many families we could
help if, instead of giving the Pentagon more money than they can even
figure out what to do with, we cut people’s heating bills in half and
made child care affordable for every family in America… Donald Trump
might be happy to spend more money on bombs in the Middle East than on
families here in America—but I am not.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA),
Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following
statement the day after a ceasefire deal was announced between the
United States and Iran:
“The President of the United States cannot threaten genocide.
That kind of brinksmanship is catastrophically dangerous and goes
against everything we stand for as Americans.
“I am relieved that American servicemembers were not asked to
commit war crimes in this President’s name, but none of us should
forgive the unacceptable escalation and erratic behavior of this
President—or the lasting damage he has already done to America’s
standing across the globe. Nor should we assume he has fully abandoned
his pattern of reckless escalation that puts our servicemembers—and
millions of innocent civilians’—lives at risk. We have to put him in
check, before he ever pushes us so close to the brink again.
“This
President made the unilateral decision—without Congress or the American
people—to plunge this country into a costly foreign war of choice.
Trump’s actions have already cost us tens of billions in taxpayer
dollars, left our international credibility in shreds, and left thirteen
servicemembers dead with hundreds more wounded. America is poorer,
weaker, and less respected thanks to Trump’s recklessness. Congress
needs to immediately vote to put a permanent end to this war and rein in
this president—and I will keep pushing to ensure that happens.
“Where Congress should be a natural check on Trump’s every
abuse of power—this Republican Congress is shamefully absent, even when
he threatens to wipe out an entire country. Americans will vote in the
fall, and our democracy is desperately counting on a new Congress that
will hold this President accountable. Every American should
recognize—your voice and your vote matter and that’s exactly why this
administration wants you to believe you are powerless.
“As a
voice for Washington state in the United States Senate, I intend to use
my vote to oppose this President’s warmongering and destructive agenda
every step of the way.”
1. To make the Garlic
Lemon Chicken Thighs: In a medium bowl, combine cilantro, 4 tablespoons
olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, chicken bouillon,
chili powder, chili pepper flakes, cumin, salt, and pepper. Divide the
mixture into two.
2.
In a gallon-size Ziplock bag or large bowl, combine the chicken thighs
and half the marinade mixture; marinate for at least 2 hours or
overnight, turning the bag occasionally. Drain the chicken thighs from
the marinade.
3.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a cast-iron grill pan over
medium-high heat. Add chicken thighs to the grill pan in a single layer
and cook until golden brown and cooked through, reaching an internal
temperature of 165ºF (74ºC), about 4-5 minutes per side.
4. Serve the Garlic Lemon Chicken Thighs with the remaining lemon-garlic-cilantro mixture on the side immediately. Enjoy!
Podcaster Joe Rogan tied two of President Donald Trump‘s most contentious issues together Wednesday, suggesting the war in Iran was a way to distract from the handling of the Epstein files.
Speaking
to comedian Arsenio Hall about those seeking to manage political optics
and control the narrative, Rogan and his guest agreed that at least one
person should be prosecuted over the revelations in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice in recent months.
“Look, the Epstein Files comes out. We go to war with Iran,” Rogan said on the Joe Rogan Experience. “It’s, it’s a good way to get people to stop talking about certain things.”
Even Joe Rogan can connect the dots. Even Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan.
Thursday, April 9, 2026. Pam Bondi disrespects the survivors of Jeffrey
Epstein again as she refuses to be deposed by the House Oversight
Committee, Chump demonstrates what a chump he actually is with his
cease-fire with Iran, and much more.
Yesterday afternoon, SCRIPPS NEWS GROUP reported,
"Former Attorney General Pam Bondi will not appear next week for a
scheduled deposition before the House Oversight Committee as part of its
investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, Scripps News has confirmed. A
committee spokeswoman said the Department of Justice informed lawmakers
that Bondi will not appear for the April 14 deposition because she is no
longer serving as attorney general and was subpoenaed in that
capacity." The Democrats on the House Oversight Committee issued the
following:
Washington,
D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee
on Oversight and Reform, released the following statement after former
Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to appear for her deposition before
the Oversight Committee on April 14, despite the lawful bipartisan
subpoena the Committee issued last month. This subpoena is binding, even
after she was fired. The subpoena followed the Department of Justice’s
botched release of the Epstein files and the continued White House
cover-up.
“Now that Pam Bondi has been fired,
she’s trying to get out of her legal obligation to testify before the
Oversight Committee about the Epstein files and the White House
cover-up.
Our bipartisan subpoena is to Pam
Bondi, whether she is the Attorney General or not. She must come in to
testify immediately, and if she defies the subpoena, we will begin
contempt charges in the Congress. The survivors deserve justice,” said
Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
The
Department of Justice said Wednesday that Pam Bondi will not appear for
her upcoming deposition in the House Oversight Committee’s Jeffrey
Epstein investigation given that she is no longer serving as the US
attorney general.
It marks the latest roadblock
in Congress’ fight to secure Bondi’s sworn testimony related to the
Justice Department’s public release of its investigative files into the
late convicted sex offender.
The department argued that
Bondi was subpoenaed in her official role as attorney general and not
in a personal capacity. As such, she won’t appear on Capitol Hill on
April 14 to discuss her role overseeing the release of the Epstein
Files, Assistant Attorney General Patrick D. Davis wrote in a letter to
House Oversight Chairman James Comer.
The
Department of Justice says this? DoJ is now the expert on
Congressional subpoenas? Congress subpoenas someone which makes them
the 'decider' in this matter. The DoJ appears to be overstepping. In
addition, Pam's job has not been filled and she remains, per Chump's
social media post announcing her firing, a government employee -- so
still being paid her AG salary -- for the rest of the month as part of a
"transitioning." Therefore, she's still with the Justice Dept and
she's still being paid her AG salary through the end of the month and
April 14th is in the middle of the month so she could appear before the
Committee as part of her "transitioning."
The
DOJ’s position has drawn criticism from members of both parties on the
Oversight Committee. Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC), who supported the
subpoena alongside Democrats, said Bondi remains obligated to testify
regardless of her current status.
“She was
subpoenaed by name,” Mace said, arguing that leaving office does not
remove the requirement to comply with congressional oversight. Several
lawmakers have indicated they view the issue as a matter of
institutional authority rather than a partisan dispute.
Representative
Ro Khanna (D-Calif) also called for Bondi to appear, stating in a
letter to Chairman James Comer that her status as a private citizen
could allow for broader testimony.
Nancy
Mace is correct, Bondi was subpoenaed by name. She is compelled to
testify or be held in contempt. There was no "Unless you resign or are
fired" exception to the subpoena. So what happens now? Alison Durkee (FORBES) ponders that:
What
will happen next week. It’s unclear if the threat of contempt could
lead Bondi to show up on April 14 as scheduled, and if any GOP lawmakers
would support Democrats in bringing contempt charges against her.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee said Wednesday they planned
to work with Bondi’s personal counsel to reschedule and have her
testify in her personal capacity. It’s unclear when Bondi could testify,
if it’s rescheduled, and if that would be enough to keep Democrats from
trying to move forward with contempt charges.
Some
Epstein victims expressed anger at Bondi’s intent not to appear.
“Survivors have waited nearly three decades for answers – how much
longer must we wait?” said Maria and Annie Farmer in a joint statement.
“Any further delays only deepen survivors’ pain and weakens our
confidence in the government’s willingness to hold accountable those who
enabled and perpetrated Epstein’s heinous crimes.”
Washington,
D.C. (February 12, 2026)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House
Judiciary Committee, led Judiciary Committee Democrats in
cross-examining Attorney General Pam Bondi for the damage done to the
Department of Justice (DOJ) under her watch.
Seated
in the audience were survivors and families of late survivors of
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking ring, who were
recognized, with their permission, at the start of the hearing: Theresa
Helm; Jess Michaels; Lara Blume McGee; Dani Bensky; Liz Stein; Marina
Lacerda; Sky and Amanda Roberts, who are the family of the late Virginia
Giuffre; Sharlene Lund; and Lisa Phillips. Bondi ignored Members’ pleas
for her to apologize directly to the survivors for the catastrophic
harm Bondi’s DOJ caused by releasing their information and intimate
details of their abuse. Rather than apologize, Bondi called the question
“theatrics.”
Bondi refused to confront the
Trump DOJ’s botched handling of the Epstein files, which recklessly
exposed survivors and shielded potential criminal co-conspirators.
Rep.
Pramila Jayapal pressed Bondi: “Will you turn to [the Epstein
survivors] now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put
them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein
files and their information?” Bondi said: “I’m not going to get into the
gutter with this woman doing theatrics.”
Rep.
Jayapal asked Epstein survivors to raise their hand if they still
haven’t been invited to meet with Pam Bondi or the DOJ. Every single one
raised their hand.
Rep. Hank Johnson said: “We
have the Epstein victim survivors here today. Rep. Jayapal asked a
simple question. If you would be so kind and honorable as to turn around
and face them and apologize to them for outing them. I mean, how many
lives have been derailed because your Department was either sloppy and
incompetent or willfully trying to intimidate and punish these ladies?”
Bondi again refused to acknowledge the survivors, saying: “Your time is
up.”
Bondi obfuscated and filibustered when asked
by Rep. Jerry Nadler how many of Epstein’s co-conspirators she has
indicted. Rep. Nadler slammed her stonewalling: “The answer to my
question of how many of Epstein’s co-conspirators has she indicted is
zero. You have been the Attorney General for a whole year, and your DOJ
fired the lead prosecutor of this case, sat on evidence this entire
time, and claimed falsely last July that there were no more leads. It
took an act of Congress for you to finally release part of the Epstein
files. And when you did, you included personal information about the
victims while protecting the names of abusers.”
In
response to a question from Rep. Ted Lieu on why she shut down the
investigation into Epstein’s co-conspirators, the Attorney General
deflected and made clear she is only here to defend Trump: “This is so
ridiculous, that they are trying to deflect from all the great things
Donald Trump has done.” Rep. Lieu slammed her non-response: “There are
over 1,000 sex trafficking victims. And you have not held a single man
accountable. Shame on you. If you had any decency, you would resign
right after this hearing concludes.”
Rep. Lou
Correa blasted Bondi for redacting the names of powerful men in the
Epstein files while dangerously exposing victims: “We have to make sure
we tell those predators there is no place for them to hide. And if they
commit the crime, they’re going to fry for it. It starts with showing us
the names of the perpetrators in the Epstein files.”
Bondi
responded with personal attacks when Ranking Member Raskin asked her to
“create a joint task force of the Department of Justice and governors
and state attorneys general and district attorneys across the country to
investigate the crimes that have taken place against [Epstein]
victims.”
In response to a question from Rep. Dan
Goldman, Bondi refused to commit to providing key documents still
missing from the Epstein files production: an 86-page prosecution memo
from the Southern District of New York, and a draft indictment from
Florida against Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators. Bondi’s DOJ is
violating the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act compelling the
unredacted release of these documents.
Rep.
Jared Moskowitz pointed out precisely why the DOJ has covered up the
Epstein files: “Trump’s name appears more times in the Epstein file than
Harry Potter’s name appears in the seven books about Harry Potter.”
Rep.
Deborah Ross probed the Trump Administration’s shameful transfer of sex
offender Ghislaine Maxwell to a lower-security prison where she has
been pampered: “Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator
received perk after perk in prison. In July, she had a two-day interview
with your deputy and President Trump’s former defense attorney, Todd
Blanche. Just days after that, Maxwell was transferred from a federal
correctional institution in Florida to a minimum-security camp in Texas,
which she, as a sex offender, would normally be ineligible for at this
new facility. We’ve heard reports that she’s been afforded special
privileges: puppy time, private workouts, personal mail, secretarial
services.” Bondi bizarrely claimed she didn’t know about the prison
transfer that occurred under her watch and falsely claimed that Maxwell
had not been transferred to a lower-security prison.
Rep.
Becca Balint said: “Now, I’ve seen some of the unredacted Epstein
files. And obviously, as you know, President Trump’s name is all over
them. But so are the names of other senior Trump officials. Howard
Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce, John Phelan, the Secretary of the Navy,
and Steven Feinberg, the Deputy Secretary of Defense. These men were
appointed by President Trump to senior positions in his Administration.
All of them have clear and confirmed ties to Jeffrey Epstein.” Bondi
flailed when Rep. Balint pressed her on these ties and why they weren’t a
dealbreaker for the President who hired them anyway.
Amid
all the lies and evasions, Bondi made a rare admission, saying that
Trump’s name “appeared countless times” in the Epstein files.
In
his attempts to position himself at the confluence of money and power,
Jeffrey Epstein cultivated myriad relationships among the ruling elite
of the Middle East, according to an extensive Miami Herald review of
several million pages of documents recently released by the U.S. Justice
Department.
From his Palm
Beach and New York mansions and his luxurious apartment in Paris,
Epstein enjoyed a remarkable level of access to sensitive information
like the outcomes of political meetings and the itineraries of Gulf
royals.
The disgraced financier, the Herald
found, regularly corresponded with members of the ruling classes in
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. He invited them
to his properties and gave them business advice - even suggesting to
Saudi palace officials that he tutor the crown prince about the ways of
Wall Street.
He asked that he be given a “small
palace” to live in while schooling the prince and demanded that the
Saudis give him sweeping oversight over the kingdom’s fortunes.
When
Qatar was accused of supporting Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, Epstein
detailed to a Qatari royal a four-point campaign on how the country
could clean up its image. Epstein also intervened on behalf of a Yemeni
billionaire’s son to help him fight murder and rape allegations in
Britain.
[. . .]
Epstein first got acquainted with Yemeni billionaire Shaher Abdulhak in the spring of 2012.
Abdulhak, at the time, was in a fix.
His
son, Farouk, was a suspect in the rape and murder of 23-year-old
Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen in London in 2008. According to
the British press, British authorities wanted him for questioning, but
Farouk had fled to Yemen.
Epstein, the records
show, claimed to have facilitated an introduction with British attorney
Lord Ken Macdonald, who had previously served as the top prosecutor in
England and Wales.
Epstein told Abdulhak in a
June 2012 email that he had spoken to Macdonald, who believed that
Farouk could get a reduced charge and be granted bail, records show.
Epstein advised Abdulhak to focus on “what punishment would be
acceptable.”
“I think you are right, something like house arrest, plus charity work,” Abdulhak replied.
Let's
move on over to the terrorist that is Donald Chump, the one who said
he'd take a country back to "the stone age" and "obliterate" the people
living there. Chump sounded like a terrorist and like a lunatic. He
should be removed from office immediately. Yes, Chump being Chump, he
ended up chickening out at the last minute. But that he took it that
far goes to how severe the dementia has become.
He
joined Netanyahu in starting a war of choice and he is now at a point
where the US is much weaker and the government of Iran is much
stronger. Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) reports:
Donald
Trump claims to have reached a successful but still evolving ceasefire
agreement with Iran, but National Review editor Jim Geraghty has a
different assessment: the president has been completely outmaneuvered
and is poised to capitulate on nearly every significant demand.
According to Geraghty's scathing analysis,
Trump and Iran are describing fundamentally different agreements. The
Iranian proposal includes concessions that represent a catastrophic
setback for American national security interests.
The
Iranian demands include: "Iran's continued control of the Strait of
Hormuz," "Iran's uranium enrichment right should be accepted," and
"Payment of compensation for damages inflicted on Iran."
I
don’t mean to sound controversial, but a president shouldn’t be able to
walk away from threatening to wipe out an entire civilization ‒ even
setting a deadline, as if Armageddon is a bloody reality show ‒ and then
carry on like he’s a normal president. Even if Republicans want you to
think it's normal.
In the sweep of less than 24 hours on April 7, Donald Trump went from threatening genocide to agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, a ceasefire that appears to give the Middle East nation a lot in return for nothing.
Don’t
get me wrong, I’m damn glad he stepped away from mass murder. But let’s
be honest: America can’t continue with this kind of “Look at me, I’m a
crazy former reality show star, tune in to see what I’ll do next?!?”
insanity.
The world just spent an entire day not
knowing whether the American president was going to commit war crimes or
drop a nuclear bomb on Iran as part of a war he started and was never
authorized to conduct.
Donald
Trump has lashed out at “fraudsters and charlatans” who he claims are
circulating fake lists of Iran’s ceasefire plan as he tries to put a
positive spin on the war.
In an angry Truth
Social post on Wednesday, Trump claimed that “numerous agreements, lists
and letters” were being sent out by people who had nothing to do with
negotiations between the two countries.
“In
many cases, they are total Fraudsters, Charlatans, and WORSE. They will
be rapidly exposed after our Federal Investigation is completed,” he
wrote, without providing any specifics.
“There
is only one group of meaningful “POINTS” that are acceptable to the
United States, and we will be discussing them behind closed doors during
these Negotiations.”
The tirade came hours
after Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran—an abrupt climbdown
from his earlier threat to unleash devastating military strikes if
Tehran failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Chump gets a revealed as a chump who needs someone to teach him THE ART OF THE DEAL and he lashes out at others. Brad Bannon (THE HILL) offers:
“Trump Net Approval Drops to Record Low.”
That’s the headline from the YouGov story about the new national survey
it conducted last week for The Economist. His overall performance score
comes in at net negative 23 percent, which puts him as deep underwater
as the Great Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean. Trump’s ratings have
been in intensive care for months but the controversy over starting a
war against Iran a month ago have put them on life support.
Iran
is a big problem for the president. You don’t need a meteorologist to
know which way the wind is blowing. Americans oppose the war by a 2-to-1 margin.
While Republicans still support the conflict, opposition to his
misguided military misadventure is high in every demographic public
subgroup.
Trump also suffers from a significant
credibility gap. A clear majority of people believe he hasn’t provided
accurate information about the progress of the war. Things could soon
even get worse for the commander in chief if he decides to put U.S.
troops on Iranian ground. Only one out of every six surveyed favor the
use of U.S. ground forces against the Middle Eastern nation.
There
are two reasons why the situation has gone from bad to worse for Trump.
He failed to demonstrate at the onset that Iran was a serious threat to
U.S. national security and the assault weaponized existing public
concerns about his failure to reduce inflationary prices.
Spanish
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday joined a chorus of world
leaders welcoming the announcement of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire but issued a
thinly veiled swipe at the Trump administration for having initiated
the hostilities.
"Ceasefires are always good
news. Especially if they lead to a just and lasting peace. But this
momentary relief cannot make us forget the chaos, the destruction, and
the lives lost," Sánchez said in a social media post, according to a
translation.
"The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket."
Sánchez,
who has emerged as one of the European Union's leading critics of U.S.
and Israeli strikes against Iran, called for "diplomacy, international
law and PEACE" to prevail.
I
can't imagine any US president in post-WWII era being insulted like
that. And from our ally Spain. But this is what Chump has fostered
with his attacks and his bullying. He's treated the world as though it
doesn't matter and now he's getting the same treatment back.
But the two-week cease-fire leaves the
Islamic Republic in place and still in command of the future of the
Strait of Hormuz, with Iran’s nuclear stockpile and ballistic missile
program unresolved. After Mr. Trump’s declaration of victory, however
hollow, it is difficult to imagine a resumption of full-scale war.
For
the rest of the world, the war “is starting to look like a military
defeat, more serious than Iraq or Afghanistan,” said Bruno Maçães,
former secretary of state for European affairs for Portugal.
“The
myth of America as all-powerful is important,” he added, “and it’s the
basic requirement of a global hegemon to keep the oil flowing, to open
up the strait and keep it open. This belief in an all-powerful America
that can solve anything is disappearing.”
Keeping
sea lanes open for American goods and global trade is one of the few
permanent interests the United States has in the Middle East, as well as
in Asia.
The war in Iran shut down
the strait. Now, the Iranian military is still in control of the
passageway and is likely to demand large tolls. “The strategic rationale
for the American military presence in the region has taken a huge hit,”
said Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment in
Washington.
Iran
walks away with more than it had in the previous agreement it struck
with the Obama administration. Israel is still firing missiles into
Iran, to say nothing of laying waste to half of Lebanon. Iran maintains
control of the Strait of Hormuz. Indeed, the deal turns the strait into
an Iranian tollbooth. I think we’re lucky that Iran doesn’t now own half
of Montana. On the other hand, Pete Hegseth thinks the whole thing
is/was a masterstroke:
This morning, a big day
for world peace. Iran wants it to happen. They’ve had enough. Operation
Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield. A
capital V.
And JD Vance, fresh off canoodling with Viktor
Orbán and still cosplaying Urban II in Budapest, emphasized that the
U.S. is not kidding around this time. No sir. Not us. Uh-uhhh.
June 23rd, Jonathan
Swan and Maggie Haberman's REGIME CHANGE is released. It's about
Chump's second term thus far. The two reporters for THE NEW YORK TIMES
have written "How Trump Took the U.S. to War With Iran"
which is based on their book and which THE TIMES published Monday.
Interesting details in the piece. Most interesting? Tulsi Gabbard, the
Director of National Intelligence, was not present when Netanyahu made
his case for war. We'll note this part because it's been repeated in
the media and it was always wrong:
The
Israelis also raised the prospect of Iranian Kurdish fighters crossing
the border from Iraq to open a ground front in the northwest, further
stretching the regime’s forces and accelerating its collapse.
[. . .]
The
intelligence officials had deep expertise in U.S. military
capabilities, and they knew the Iranian system and its players inside
out. They had broken down Mr. Netanyahu’s presentation into four parts.
First was decapitation — killing the ayatollah. Second was crippling
Iran’s capacity to project power and threaten its neighbors. Third was a
popular uprising inside Iran. And fourth was regime change, with a
secular leader installed to govern the country.
The
U.S. officials assessed that the first two objectives were achievable
with American intelligence and military power. They assessed that the
third and fourth parts of Mr. Netanyahu’s pitch, which included the
possibility of the Kurds mounting a ground invasion of Iran, were
detached from reality.
The
Kurds in Iraq were never going to mount an invasion. As we noted here
repeatedly -- often noting the Talabni's extreme closeness to the
Iranian government -- that was not going to happen. The two ruling
dynasties in the Kurdistan are both close to the government of Iran and
have been for years. Many fools in the US media repeated this claim --
from US anonymice whispers or Israeli anonymice whispers, I don't know
-- and it was never viable.
Back to the article:
When
Mr. Trump joined the meeting, Mr. Ratcliffe briefed him on the
assessment. The C.I.A. director used one word to describe the Israeli
prime minister’s regime change scenarios: “farcical.”
At that point, Mr. Rubio cut in. “In other words, it’s bullshit,” he said.
Mr.
Ratcliffe added that given the unpredictability of events in any
conflict, regime change could happen, but it should not be considered an
achievable objective.
Several others jumped
in, including Mr. Vance, just back from Azerbaijan, who also expressed
strong skepticism about the prospect of regime change.
The president then turned to General Caine. “General, what do you think?”
General
Caine replied: “Sir, this is, in my experience, standard operating
procedure for the Israelis. They oversell, and their plans are not
always well-developed. They know they need us, and that’s why they’re
hard-selling.”
Mr. Trump quickly weighed the
assessment. Regime change, he said, would be “their problem.” It was
unclear whether he was referring to the Israelis or the Iranian people.
But the bottom line was that his decision on whether to go to war
against Iran would not hinge on whether Parts 3 and 4 of Mr. Netanyahu’s
presentation were achievable.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), along with Representative Delia
Ramirez (D-Ill.) and Representative Troy Carter (D-La.), pressed the
Inspectors General of the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and
State to open an investigation into the Trump administration’s attempts
to deport people to countries they have no ties to.
“We request that your offices evaluate the Trump Administration’s
unlawful and costly system of “third-country removals”...Congress and
the public deserve answers to better understand the scale of legal
violations within this system that was recently ruled unconstitutional,”
wrote the lawmakers.
Since President Trump took office for a second time, his
administration has deported hundreds of people, including children,
long-time U.S. residents, and individuals with no criminal records, to
countries they are not from and that were not designated for their
removal, which U.S. immigration law only allows in rare circumstances.
Deportees are being sent to these countries without proper due process,
and in some cases without being provided an opportunity to voice
concerns that their life or freedom would be in danger in that third
country. To persuade countries to accept deportees, the Trump
Administration has used a combination of threats and payments, including
paying $32 million to El Salvador, Rwanda, Eswatini, Equatorial Guinea,
and Palau.
In September 2025, Senator Warren led over 60 members of Congress in launching an investigation
into these practices. Despite the serious implications of third-country
removals, both State and Homeland Security have failed to comply with
the requests made as part of that investigation.
On February 25, 2026, a federal court ruled that this third-country
removal system violates the U.S. Constitution and immigration law. Even
so, DHS’s 2025 guidance regarding
third country removals — which do not appear to have been updated since
the February 2026 court ruling — claim the Department can deport
individuals to third countries with no individualized process
whatsoever.
Many people first learn that they are being deported to a third
country while on the flight overseas. Even when a country has not
credibly promised to refrain from torture or persecution, DHS still
generally gives individuals only 24 hours’ notice that they will be
deported to a particular country, with no guaranteed opportunity to
speak with an attorney. To make matters worse, some DHS attorneys have
reportedly threatened asylum seekers that they may be deported to third
countries in order to pressure them to abandon their asylum claims and
accept deportation to their home countries.
Some people deported to third countries have reported torture,
arbitrary detention, and forced return to their countries of origin
where courts have found they are likely to face persecution, and other
human rights violations.
“Such reports cast serious doubt on DoS’s process, if one exists, of
verifying the reliability of countries’ assertions that they will not
torture or persecute deportees, or transport them onward to other
countries where they’re likely to face torture or persecution,” wrote the lawmakers.
Meanwhile, the Administration is continuing to execute third-country
deportations. As of early March, ICE had over 500 people in its custody
slated for third-country deportations, and DHS signaled that it had its sights on deporting over 8,000 people to third countries.
The lawmakers asked that Inspectors General’s investigation include
the administration’s failure to follow due process, negotiations with
foreign governments, evaluating the risk of torture and persecution, and
the cost of third-country deportations.
Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff
Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.),
Jackie Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Adam Schiff
(D-Calif.) signed on to this letter.
Representatives Donald Beyer (D-Va.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Diana
DeGette (D-Colo.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.),
Jesús GarcÃa (D-Ill.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.),
Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.),
Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Jim McGovern
(D-Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Chellie
Pingree (D-Maine), and Adam Smith (D-Wash.) signed on to this letter.