Important Sunday Night Update

Good evening everyone—I wanted to come to you tonight to preview what will be an exceptionally busy and consequential week ahead. (News updates from today below).

This is the week we are told the Epstein files will be released—more accurately, whatever portion of those files the Justice Department ultimately decides to make public. When that happens, expect tens of thousands of documents to drop at once. I will be working around the clock, speaking directly with survivors and lawmakers, and reviewing every available file. I will read them so you don’t have to, and I will bring you clear, honest summaries without spin or delay.

Many are going to try to silence this reporting, and others are going to sane-wash it (like CBS News did with the Bari Weiss/Erika Kirk town hall) and so, before I go any further, I want to ask you directly: if you are able, please consider subscribing tonight. Subscriptions are the sole reason I am able to do this work full time. This newsroom exists because of you. Journalism that refuses to back down has no shortcuts and no safety net. It only survives when people who believe in the truth choose to sustain it.

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Tonight is also the first night of Hanukkah. Anyone who knows me knows it’s my favorite time of year. My wife and I just lit the candles and are getting ready to eat donuts. Looking back to this same moment last year, I never could have imagined that we would be here today. And that’s why I want to pause and say this clearly: I am incredibly proud of what we have built together.

At a moment when the White House is publicly targeting journalists by name, and coordinated bot networks are working overtime to intimidate and silence independent reporters, your support is what keeps this operation alive. It is the foundation that allows us to keep asking the hard questions—and to keep publishing the stories others are unwilling or afraid to touch.

Let us keep going. Let us keep digging. Let us keep fighting back—together.

Tomorrow, I’ll be speaking with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear on his podcast. On Wednesday, I have a call regarding a major project that I’m hoping to launch soon. My commitment to you is simple: this week will be intense. There will be a lot of news and a lot of chaotic headlines. While much of the media ecosystem lurches from one story to the next, we remain focused. Because of our reporting, tens of millions of households have heard stories that otherwise might have been buried. We accomplished that together—and we are only getting started.

We are living in an era where chaos is no longer accidental. It is deliberate. Political strategy has become an exercise in exhaustion. The truth still exists, but it is constantly buried beneath a tidal wave of noise.

But here’s what I know: they can flood the zone. They can try to exhaust the public. They can attempt to bury the truth under endless distractions. And we will still be here. We will still be reporting. We will still be cutting through the noise—together.

I am working on new projects that will strengthen this platform even further. Yes, we face resistance. Trump’s political allies and MAGA influencers have tried to discredit us, overwhelm us, and shut us down. But they cannot erase a movement that millions of people are watching. They cannot silence a community that refuses to look away.

We are here. We are growing. And we are not done. Here’s what you missed:

A terrorist mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration killed at least 15 people aged 10 to 87 and injured dozens more, with authorities identifying the attackers as a father and son and calling the assault an act of antisemitic violence. The victims included a Holocaust survivor and the rabbi who organized the event, while one suspect was killed by police, the other hospitalized in critical condition, and officials confirmed the older gunman legally owned multiple firearms.

Ahmed el Ahmed is a hero. He single handily took down a terrorist. He underwent surgery after being shot multiple times:

In the U.S., a shooting inside Brown University’s engineering and physics building killed two people and wounded at least nine others, prompting campus lockdowns and widespread fear among students. Police detained 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson as a person of interest in the Brown shooting and are investigating his background, possible ties to the university, and mental health history.

The Guardian reports that a JetBlue flight from Curaçao to New York narrowly avoided a midair collision near Venezuelan airspace after a U.S. Air Force refueling tanker crossed its flight path without a transponder on, forcing the commercial pilot to halt the plane’s ascent and prompting reports to federal authorities.

President Donald Trump said his domestic policy chief’s main focus is building a Paris-style triumphal arch near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, a priority he touted at a White House event despite rising criticism that his administration is failing to address worsening affordability issues such as surging health insurance premiums and living costs.

Major advertisers largely avoided sponsoring CBS News’ first Bari Weiss–led town hall, opting out amid concerns about political polarization and brand risk, leaving the broadcast reliant on lower-cost direct-response and ideologically aligned sponsors and raising questions about the commercial viability of the network’s new town hall format.

Rep. Ilhan Omar said her son was pulled over by ICE agents in the Twin Cities and asked to prove his citizenship before being released, an incident she says reflects racial profiling tied to a recent federal enforcement surge targeting Somali communities following inflammatory remarks by President Trump.

Health policy experts warn that the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies after failed Senate legislation will more than double average premiums in 2026, push millions toward high-deductible plans or no coverage at all, strain hospitals—especially in rural areas—and trigger a destabilizing “death spiral” across the U.S. health insurance system.

A new NBC News poll shows President Donald Trump’s approval rating remains underwater as economic anxiety persists, with inflation and high costs shaping everyday spending decisions. While Trump remains popular among core MAGA supporters, the poll indicates declining strong approval and fewer Republicans identifying with the MAGA movement ahead of the 2026 elections.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is willing to drop its long-standing ambition to join Nato in exchange for binding Western security guarantees, marking a major shift as part of U.S.-led talks in Germany aimed at ending the war with Russia and securing a ceasefire along current frontlines.

See you in the morning.

— Aaron