Good evening, everyone. It has been an extraordinarily busy news day. I spoke this evening with Congressman Ro Khanna, who says he has articles of impeachment drafted against Pam Bondi over failures related to the Epstein files. At the same time, I spent the day pressing the Department of Justice to remove and properly redact documents that exposed the names of survivors, and today we succeeded.
That work, however, is only beginning. Tonight we also learned the identities of the CBP agents who shot Alex Pretti, and President Trump announced plans to shut down the Kennedy Center.
Over the past 72 hours, I have reviewed thousands of documents while pushing relentlessly for accountability and the truth. That push has led to significant attacks from those who do not want the truth to come out.
I am not stopping now. I want to sincerely thank everyone who has reached out and shared words of support. It means more than I can say. If you want to support this work and help me reach more people, please consider subscribing or gifting a subscription. Let’s keep building together.
Here’s the news:
- There are more than 5,300 mentions of Donald Trump in the Epstein files that I have found. Many of those mentions are allegations against the President, most of which are extremely graphic and horrific. Despite that, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice cannot investigate anonymous or second-hand tips alleging links between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, stating the claims—released among millions of Epstein-related files and later removed from a public database—are unfounded and not investigable. This is the explanation given to avoid investigating any tips related to Donald Trump.
- The DOJ is now taking down files that I emailed over to their tip line that they failed to properly redact. I have saved the files on my computer in case the DOJ just decides to wipe them completely.
- Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said he and GOP Rep. Thomas Massie may pursue impeachment or contempt proceedings against Pam Bondi if the Department of Justice fails to fully comply with their law requiring the release of unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files, calling the recent document dump “significant” but insufficient.
- This is Epstein confirming that he discussed Donald Trump with the Russians: “Churkin was great. he understood trump after our conversations” Full file here.
- On the day Vladimir Putin announced Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Jeffrey Epstein emailed Ariane de Rothschild suggesting the Ukraine crisis could create “many opportunities,” implying he saw geopolitical instability as a chance for financial, strategic, or influence-seeking gain rather than commenting on humanitarian or political consequences.
- In a message to Michael Wolff, Jeffrey Epstein wrote, “The paradise papers show the Kremlin funneling money to Kushner by using Uri Milner. whoops,” a flippant remark suggesting alleged covert financial links possibly involving the Kremlin, Jared Kushner, and Yuri Milner.
- In 2014, a correspondent advised Jeffrey Epstein to read up on “Alexandr Dugin, Putin’s adviser,” suggesting the material might be “interesting and perhaps quite useful,” pointing to Epstein’s interest in figures tied to Vladimir Putin and Russian geopolitical ideology.
- Mike Johnson says he has no concerns about Trump's name appearing in the Epstein files.
Other news:
- ProPublica identified two masked federal immigration agents—Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and CBP officer Raymundo Gutierrez—as the shooters who killed Alex Pretti during an immigration sweep, sparking protests, bipartisan calls for transparency, and investigations amid allegations of secrecy, excessive force, and federal obstruction of state inquiries.
- ICE agents tear gassed individuals, including one seven year old girl, in Portland:
- President Donald Trump warned that if Iran refuses a new nuclear deal, the U.S. may resort to military action—raising the risk of a regional war—as Washington ramps up its military presence in the Middle East and exchanges escalating threats with Iran’s leadership.
- A federal judge ordered the release of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, after their detention during an immigration operation sparked national outrage, and the pair returned home to Minnesota following criticism of the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration’s immigration practices.
- Donald Trump downplayed Democrats flipping a Texas state Senate seat he had previously won by 17 points, distancing himself from the loss despite endorsing the Republican candidate, while saying he expects to make an endorsement soon in Texas’ competitive U.S. Senate race. Here is him endorsing the candidate:
- At the GRAMMYs, Kehlani said she wanted to say “fck ICE” but held back for decorum, adding that artists are “too powerful of a group to all be in the room at the same time and not make some kind of statement,” directly calling out ICE.
- Roughly 10,000 Federal Aviation Administration employees will be furloughed during the partial government shutdown, while air traffic controllers and other essential staff continue working without pay until Congress restores funding amid stalled negotiations in the United States Congress.
See you in the morning.
— Aaron