Today in Politics, Bulletin 168. 7/10/25

… Bill O’Reilly said Trump told him last March why the Epstein files should not be released: “He said there’s a lot of names associated with Epstein that had nothing to do with his conduct - maybe had lunch with him or some correspondence or other. If that name gets out those people are destroyed because there's not going to be any context."

… Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL): "Do I think Trump is on the Epstein client list? No. I'm very positive of that because if he was they would've released it during the election cycle."

… Podcaster Candace Owens: “The Epstein thing is a bridge too far. The MAGA movement is compromised. How infiltrated are we? The lies are becoming more audacious. They are mocking us, they are laughing at us.”

… Steve Bannon’s WH Correspondent Natalie Winters: “MAGA rose because Americans were unsatisfied with Establishment Republicans lying that accountability is found in press releases and meaningless politicking. We want prison sentences. This Epstein List debacle is an affront to the foundation of the MAGA movement.”

… Former Epstein and Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz weighed in on the controversy today on Sean Spicer’s podcast: “I know for a fact documents are being suppressed to protect individuals. I know their names, why they’re being suppressed, and who is suppressing them. But I’m bound by confidentiality so I can’t disclose it. Files are being suppressed to protect these individuals and that’s wrong.”

… EPA Secretary Lee Zeldin said he is going to investigate the latest right-wing conspiracy advanced by Marge Greene and others that the Deep State caused the Texas floods: “Americans have questions about geoengineering and contrails. They expect honesty and transparency from their govt when seeking answers. For years, people who asked questions in good faith were dismissed, even vilified by the media and their own govt. This ends today.”

… Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) responded: “Some people have ‘questions’ about whether birds are real. Will that be your next project? How much taxpayer money will you be spending on this?”

… Trump lost his appeal today of the $5 million civil judgment won at trial against him by E. Jean Carroll. CNBC: “A 3-judge appeals panel in its unanimous ruling said it concluded that Trump ‘had not demonstrated that the district court’ judge who presided over his trial ‘erred in any of the challenged rulings. Further, he has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial.’”

… CNN: “DHS Sec Kristi Noem -whose department oversees FEMA - recently enacted a sweeping rule aimed at cutting spending: Every contract and grant over $100,000 now requires her personal sign-off before any funds can be released. As central Texas towns were submerged in rising waters, FEMA officials realized they couldn’t pre-position Urban Search and Rescue crews from a network of teams stationed regionally across the country.”

… “In the past, FEMA would have swiftly staged these teams, which are specifically trained for situations including catastrophic floods, closer to a disaster zone in anticipation of urgent requests. But even as Texas rescue crews raced to save lives, FEMA officials realized they needed Noem’s approval before sending those additional assets. Noem didn’t authorize FEMA’s deployment of Urban Search and Rescue teams until Monday, more than 72 hours after the flooding began.”

… “Texas did request aerial imagery from FEMA to aid search and rescue operations, but that was delayed as it awaited Noem’s approval for the necessary contract. FEMA staff have also been answering phones at a disaster call center, where, according to one agency official, callers have faced longer wait times as the agency awaited Noem’s approval for a contract to bring in additional support staff.”

… Noem was asked about the report on Fox: Q - CNN has a report accusing you of slowing the process in Texas. Noem: “Well there you go. Fake news CNN is absolutely trash, what they are doing.” (She didn’t deny anything in the story though).

… In an angry denial to the story on X, the DHS official account actually ended up confirming the story that nothing was done until Tuesday - 3 days after the storm: “This is a FAKE NEWS LIE from CNN. This reporting is an unapparelled (sic) display of activist journalism and distracts from the robust, coordinated fed response led by Sec Noem that has saved over 900+ lives. By Tuesday, FEMA had deployed 311 staffers, providing support and shelter for hundreds of people. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS is reforming FEMA to prioritize state-led, locally executed disaster response, as Texas has exemplified.”

… Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL): “As the former Emergency Management Director of Florida, I’m calling for an immediate investigation by House Homeland Security Committee and Transportation Committee. If accurate, this is a major deviation from FEMA protocol, may have slowed down response and been a contributing factor.”

… Rep. Seth Mouton (D-MA): “Trump sent 2,700 federal troops to confront protestors in LA. Zero people were dead. He’s sent 0 troops to Texas to help find 180+ missing people. 118 are already dead. I served with Marines who would do anything to save American lives—not fight them on American soil. Trump abuses the military (he lied to avoid serving in himself) to make a political point. Saving lives—what our military is all about—barely registers.”

… Noem was also busy posting three paintings on Instagram, asking her followers which one she should choose to be displayed in the South Dakota capitol as her official portrait commemorating her term as governor.

… Somebody posted an extreme gym workout video with the caption, ‘What’s harder than this?’ Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) responded: “Getting Kristi Noem to do her job instead of photo ops.”

… Noem on why she thinks the federal govt shouldn’t play a leading role in big disaster response anymore: “People forget that the states are older than the Constitution and that they created the Constitution—federalism matters and states’ rights need to be respected.”

… My head hurts.

… NC Gov. Josh Stein to CNBC on Trump and Noem wanting the states and not FEMA to handle disaster response: "We don't get a huge storm every year, but the country does. So it doesn't make sense for each state to have a fully staffed emergency response team."

… NYT: "The NWS had issued 3 increasingly dire warnings early that morning - at 1:14 a.m., 4:03 a.m. and 6:06 a.m. The Weather Service employee whose job it was to make sure those warnings got traction - Paul Yura, the long-serving meteorologist in charge of ‘warning coordination’ - had recently taken an unplanned early retirement amid cuts pushed by the so-called DOGE. He was not replaced."

… Charlie Kirk found a Black person over 100 miles away to blame the flooding deaths on: “How many little girls died at Camp Mystic because the Austin Fire Dept hired a DEI fire chief? Why isn’t every leader in Texas connecting the dots here? The Austin Fire Chief was there because of DEI and failed to deploy resources because he didn’t understand the word ‘reimbursement’. He failed to pre-deploy rescue swimmers to Kerrville. DEI likely made the flood total worse. DEI kills.”

… Trump Senior Advisor Dr. Darrell Scott, who is Black, wasn’t happy with Kirk: “67 people died when a helicopter crashed into a plane over the Potomac. The first thing said was ‘we’re gonna investigate to see if DEI was involved’. When it wasn’t, race was never mentioned again. Neither was the word ‘incompetence’. I’m getting sick of this shit. Only the Right!”

… Scott: “Charlie Kirk ain’t slick with his racist BS. He insinuates that every single black person in a position of authority is incompetent, and only got the position because of Affirmative Action.(unless it’s one of his lackeys. Wait. He doesn’t put them in any authority). I gotta find a black person to blame this on, even if he’s 120 miles away. I would blame it on Gov Abbott, but he’s not a Democrat, so…”

… Texas Dems have been rooting for AG Ken Paxton to beat Sen. John Cornyn in the polls since he is so unpopular with moderate and independent voters, and he has a big lead in the primary polls. His wife just posted this today: “After 38 years of marriage, I filed for divorce on biblical grounds. I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation. But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage.”

… Paxton carried on an affair for years with a woman previously and was impeached after the target of an investigation from his office remodeled Paxton’s mistresses’ kitchen and got his charges dropped. His most senior deputies resigned in protest over it and House Republicans impeached him, but his wife, who served on his impeachment jury since she was a state senator, stuck with him and he barely survived it. That was a few years ago, and it appears he screwed up again and she finally had enough.

… Paxton later posted this in response to his wife’s post: “After facing the pressures of countless political attacks and public scrutiny, Angela and I have decided to start a new chapter in our lives. I could not be any more proud or grateful for the incredible family that God has blessed us with, and I remain committed to supporting our amazing children and grandchildren. I ask for your prayers and privacy at this time.”

… Naturally, Paxton and Trump are good pals and golfing buddies.

… Trump just appointed Transportation Sec Sean Duffy to also run NASA after he dumped Musk’s friend, which contributed to the feud between them. The former Fox host and reality TV star has been busy dealing with Air Traffic Control issues while doing 5,000 Fox interviews, but the US space program will be added to his duties.

… Democratic strategist Max Burns: “I get that Sean Duffy was a natural pick to be Transportation Secretary because he was on MTV's Road Rules, but as far as I can tell he's never been on any space-themed reality TV.”

… Meanwhile, NASA is being wiped out by the new budget’s massive cuts. Politico: “At least 2,145 senior-ranking NASA employees are set to leave under a push to shed staff, potentially spelling trouble for WH space policy and depriving the agency of decades of experience. The 2,145 employees are those in GS-13 to GS-15 positions — senior-level govt ranks that are typically reserved for those with specialized skills or management responsibilities.”

… Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society: “You’re losing the managerial and core technical expertise of the agency. What’s the strategy and what do we hope to achieve here?”

… BBC reported that Arpineh Masihi, a Trump-supporting mother of 4 children born in the US, was arrested by ICE despite the fact that she has been in this country from Iran since she was 3 years old. She was handcuffed in front of her children right after having breakfast at their home in LA, and is now at a detention facility in the Mojave Dessert.

… But Masihi still loves Trump: “He’s doing the right thing because lots of these people don’t deserve to be here. I will support him until the day I die. He’s making America great again.”

… So does her husband: “We are Christians. She can’t go back, there’s no way. I don’t blame Trump, I blame Biden. It’s his doing for open borders, but I believe in the system and all the good people will be released and the ones that are bad will be sent back.”

… Good luck with that. The only chance she has is with an immigration judge, not the Trump admin.

There is no Bulletin tomorrow because I am heading to northern Maine for a whitewater rafting trip. I will be back with the back with the big Weekend Bulletin on Sunday. It has certainly been a long week covering all the craziness and I am looking forward to getting in the woods off the grid for a couple of days.

Thank you for supporting my work and all of independent media!

… Tom Homan on Fox today: "From day one, I said they're gonna vilify ICE - because they don't want Trump to be successful. They hate Trump more than they love their communities. We're gonna be out there every damn day across this nation, over 1,000 teams looking for these people."

… Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) posted this today: “ICE performs an important job for