Ben here. Hope your Saturday is going well. Let me fill you in on the latest news in today’s afternoon recap and you can watch my full report above.
Let me start overseas. The images coming out of Italy are both humiliating and revealing.
By now, most people have seen the footage of JD Vance being loudly booed during the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Milan. The crowd cheered the U.S. athletes, but Vance’s image appeared on the jumbotron, the crowd responded instantly and unmistakably. The reaction was not subtle. It was not isolated. It was sustained booing from an international audience.
But there’s another Vance story that isn’t getting enough attention.
Vance’s motorcade caused massive traffic disruptions in Milan, a city with narrow streets and infrastructure that does not accommodate sprawling convoys. This was not a minor inconvenience. According to reporting from the Olympic venue, the disruption caused by Vance’s motorcade delayed American figure skater Alysa Liu on her way to the Milano Skating Arena. Her coach said plainly, “We almost didn’t make it.” Liu went on to finish second in the women’s short program at the team event, after having her preparation thrown into chaos.
Think about that for a moment. An American Olympic athlete nearly missed her event because the vice president lacked the awareness or restraint to adjust his movements in a foreign city. This is what entitlement looks like when it goes unchecked. It is not just embarrassing. It has real consequences for people who are actually representing the country on the world stage.
Donald Trump, of course, was asked about the booing. His response was classic denial. When told that Vance had been booed, Trump claimed surprise and then insisted that Vance does not get booed in the United States.
That claim is simply false, and we have the receipts to prove it.
Vance is booed regularly when he appears in public. We have seen it at the Kennedy Center. We have seen it at Union Station. We have seen it repeatedly, on camera, in front of witnesses.
In addition, Trump has now repeatedly refused to apologize for posting a grotesquely racist image depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama with their faces photoshopped onto apes. When asked directly whether he would apologize, Trump said no. He attempted to justify the post by claiming it was a “takeoff on The Lion King” and described it as “very strong in terms of voter fraud.”
There is no ambiguity here. That image was racist. It was vile. And it was deliberate.
Trump’s defenders have responded exactly as you would expect. They insist it is not racist. They argue that Trump cannot be racist because he appears alongside Black entertainers. One surrogate even claimed that Trump’s appearance with Nicki Minaj somehow absolves him. Another argued that electoral statistics prove Trump is incapable of racism.
These people have no moral center. They will defend anything, no matter how heinous.
While the racism and public spectacle dominate headlines, something even more alarming is happening quietly inside the Department of Justice.
Investigative reporter Julie Brown, whose work was instrumental in exposing Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation after it was buried in 2007, reported a stunning development this morning. An 86-page DOJ prosecution memo related to the Epstein case, which listed possible coconspirators and detailed victims’ allegations, has disappeared from the DOJ website. It vanished after the Miami Herald questioned the Department about the document.
This memo was heavily redacted when it appeared, but it still mattered. At the top, it was marked as privileged attorney work product, deliberative process, and subject to federal grand jury rules. Under the Epstein Transparency Act, however, much of this material is supposed to be produced. The only information that must be protected is identifying information about victims and survivors.
Instead, Trump’s DOJ is now claiming deliberative process privilege over essentially everything. They are using internal process protections as a shield to hide the identities of alleged coconspirators and the government’s own discussions about them. And now, rather than defending that position, the Department has simply removed the document from public view.
The cover-up continues. And it’s getting bigger by the day.
At the same time, we are learning about deeply troubling reports coming out of the military. According to reporting highlighted by our editor in chief Ron Filipkowski, MAGA-aligned commanders at multiple bases are pressuring enlisted service members to attend screenings of the Melania Trump documentary. Troops at at least eight bases have complained that attendance is being framed as a required bonding exercise.
These complaints were submitted to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization that exists precisely to address coercion and abuse of authority within the armed forces. Service members report being told to buy tickets and attend as part of official activities.
This is an abuse of power, plain and simple. The military exists to defend the country, not to serve as a captive audience for regime propaganda to enrich the president and his oligarch friends.
I want to end this update on a different note, because amid all of this ugliness, there are still people using their platforms with courage.
American figure skater Amber Glenn spoke out publicly about supporting the LGBTQ+ community under the Trump administration. She acknowledged that athletes are often told to “stick to sports” and stay quiet, but she rejected that premise. As she said, politics affect everyday life, and silence is not an option when human rights are under attack. She spoke about community, resilience, and standing together through hard times.
Athletes like Glenn, and like Alysa Liu, represent the best of what this country can be. They show discipline, integrity, and empathy. They understand that visibility comes with responsibility. And they understand the stakes of the moment we are in.
This is why independent media matters. This is why we keep showing the clips, documenting the abuses, and calling out the lies. None of this exists in isolation. It is all connected, and it is all happening right now.
As always, thank you for staying informed, for supporting this work, and for refusing to look away.
