Today in Politics, Bulletin 277. 12/23/25

… The second drop of Epstein files was so bad for Trump that they did it in the middle of the night, along with a disclaimer from DOJ, which continues to act as Trump’s personal law firm: “Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against Trump that are unfounded and false. Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DOJ is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims.”

… WaPo: “Three days after releasing a large tranche of Epstein documents that contained few mentions of Trump, DOJ disclosed thousands more files that included wide-ranging references to the president. The documents show that a subpoena was sent to Mar-a-Lago in 2021 for records that pertained to the govt’s case against Ghislaine Maxwell. They include notes from a US attorney in NY about the number of times Trump flew on Epstein’s plane, including one flight that included just Trump, Epstein and a 20-year-old woman.”

… “The newly released documents also include several tips that were collected by the FBI about Trump’s involvement with Epstein and parties at their properties in the early 2000s. The documents do not show whether any follow-up investigations took place or whether any of the tips were corroborated.”

… “At one point, the documents indicate, prison officials planned to house Epstein in a cell with Cesar Sayoc, a fanatical supporter of Trump’s who in 2019 was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he mailed explosive devices to prominent Democrats and media figures.”

… In Jan 2020, during Trump’s first term, a fed prosecutor in NY wrote an internal email about a review of flight records: “For your situational awareness, wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware), including during the period we would expect to charge in a Maxwell case. We’ve just finished reviewing the full records and didn’t want any of this to be a surprise down the road.”

… “There were at least 8 flights, the prosecutor wrote, between 1993 and 1996 in which Trump was a passenger. On at least 4 of those flights Maxwell was also present. In some cases there were passengers who could be called as possible witnesses in a case against Maxwell.”

… There is also a letter alleging to be sent from Epstein to convicted sex offender Larry Nassar, which was postmarked just days after he died. The letter reads: "Dear L.N., As you know by now, I have taken the ‘short route’ home. Good luck! We shared one thing - our love & caring for young ladies at the hope they'd reach their full potential. Our president shares our love of young, nubile girls. When a young beauty walked by he loved to ‘grab snatch,’ whereas we ended up snatching grub in the mess halls of the system. Life is unfair. Yours. J. Epstein”

… DOJ, continuing to act as Trump’s criminal defense lawyers/PR firm, issued a response to this explosive piece of evidence: “DOJ is currently looking into the validity of this alleged letter from Epstein to Nassar and we will follow up as soon as possible. In the meantime, 3 facts stand out: The postmark on the envelope is VA, not NY, where Epstein was jailed at the time. The return address listed the wrong jail where Epstein was held. The envelope was processed 3 days AFTER Epstein’s death.”

… One X used posted this response: “DOJ is lying here. The letter is a return to sender letter. The return address literally reads. ‘J.epstein, manhattan correctional/ NYC, 10007.’ Epstein mailed it to AZ, where a significant portion of mail from NYC to AZ (that isn’t air mail and takes 3-5 days cross country) goes though nova (northern VA processing). The USPS canceled/processed it in northern VA. The nova 220 is a spray cancel. Which is where the date Aug 13th appeared.”

… “Aug 13th is also a Monday. Epstein died on the Friday. Mail sits in handling/ pickup then routing over the weekends regardless. The FBI UNDER TRUMP in 2020 submitted a handwriting analysis to confirm it was from him because every other fact checked out.”

… Politico’s Kyle Cheney: “DOJ says it is ‘currently’ reviewing the purported Epstein-Nassar letter, even though it's been in DOJ's possession and its existence (though not its contents) was publicly known for years.”

… Then, a few hours later, DOJ announced the result of the fastest investigation in the history of the Department: “The FBI has confirmed this alleged letter from Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar is FAKE.”

… Keystone Kash says it’s fake. I guess it’s time to move on. Nothing to see here.

… Investigative reporter Seth Abramson: “UPDATE: CNN confirms that ‘the envelope [holding the Epstein-Nassar Note] was sent from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in NYC [where Epstein was being held] to Nassar"—*and* got vetted by federal officials. Which explains the Virginia postmark (where the FBI is).”

… “So (1) Why won’t the FBI release the 2020 handwriting analysis it did, if that analysis concluded the note was a forgery? (2) How did the FBI preclude the possibility—even *likelihood*—of dictation in 120 minutes? (3) Where’s the *real* Epstein-Nassar note we *know* Epstein sent?”

… “On a separate but related note, I'm astonished at how many folks I thought smart bought the Trump FBI/DOJ explanation instantly—despite none of it making sense.
You realize these are just Trump personal lawyers with no ethics or fear of repercussions, right?”

… Investigative reporter Roger Sollenberger: “This morning DOJ tweeted that some Trump allegations in today’s batch were false—no specificity—and they decide to specify this letter hours later. (FBI requested a forensic handwriting analysis in 2020, but DOJ’s new tweet explaining its conclusion doesn’t cite an analysis).”

… “The WH would like to make it seem impossible to tell what’s credible v. what isn’t credible, and they will happily shape this release to try to discredit responsible journalists trying in good faith to report accurately and evenly about what is included in the docs. Maybe the forensic analysis confirmed it’s not Epstein’s handwriting. It would be nice to know.”

… Trump raged about it to reporters: “What this whole thing is with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican Party has. Like, for instance, today we’re building the biggest ships in the world, the most powerful ships in the world, and they’re asking me questions about Epstein. I thought that was finished.”

… “Everybody was friendly with this guy. I don’t like the pictures of Bill Clinton being shown. I don’t like the pictures of other people being shown – I think it’s a terrible thing. Clinton’s a big boy, he can handle it, but you probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Epstein years ago and they’re highly respected bankers and lawyers and others. And they will end up, because of guys like Massie, he’s a real low life, he’s a loser, a lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein.”

… Rep. Thomas Massie responded: “Trump is blaming me for a bill he eventually signed, while defending his banker friends, Bill Clinton, and ‘innocent’ visitors to rape island. Meanwhile Bondi is working fervently to redact, omit, and delete Epstein files she is legally required to release under our bill.”

… Rep. Marge Greene: “This is horrifying. Trump called me a traitor for fighting him to release the Epstein files and standing with women who were raped, jailed in stalls, and trafficked to men. Only evil people would hide this and protect those who participated. I pray for these women.”

… House Oversight Ranking Dem Robert Garcia posted this: “Mr. President, you have the power right now to release the names of Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators that are redacted in the DOJ released files. President Trump, the survivors deserve justice. Let’s end this nightmare today and release the names.”

… Epstein Survivor and former Trump voter Haley Robson on CNN: “I am no longer supporting this admin. I am so disgusted with this admin. I think that Pam Bondi and Kash Patel both need to resign, and I would love to see number 47 get impeached over this.”

… Rep. Ro Khanna to Meidas: “You’ve got the DOJ releasing the names of survivors—which they are not allowed to do by law—but not releasing the FBI interview files with those same survivors. Those FBI interviews contain the names of other men: Wall Street tycoons and politicians. How do I know? Because I’ve spoken to the survivors. I’ve spoken to the survivors’ lawyers who were present at the FBI interviews, who provided those names and are saying, release them. Instead, you have a DOJ that is more concerned with protecting the reputations of these men than protecting the survivors.”

… Q - “Are there any FBI or DOJ whistleblowers who may be on the horizon—people upset about how this was handled and who may have information? Khanna: We’ve had some approach our office and the committee. I obviously can’t get into the details, but there are people who are upset about the noncompliance with the law, and they don’t want to be held accountable. Anyone at DOJ involved in this who is not complying could be prosecuted for obstruction of justice.”

… “Now, Pam Bondi is not going to prosecute them. But in 2029, we’re going to have a Democratic president, and that president is going to have an AG who prosecutes the law—not out of vindictiveness, but out of the simple principle that you can’t commit crimes and get away with it.

… “And by the way, I think that should apply not just to violations of the Epstein Transparency Act. It should apply to crimes involving ICE and to crimes related to the strikes in the Caribbean. We need accountability before reconciliation. So if you’re at DOJ and you know you’re violating the law, you probably don’t want obstruction of justice charges brought against you.”

… “Accountability before reconciliation.” I like that. Definitely going to steal that.

… Politico: “The Supreme Court rejected Trump over deployment of National Guard to aid immigration enforcement in Illinois. Court says law limits use of National Guard to only when regular military is insufficient. 3 justices dissented: Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch.”

… Immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick: “Wow. Genuinely shocked, and a hugely consequential decision. The law Trump used to federalize the National Guard requires him to be ‘unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.’ The Court today agrees that ‘regular forces’ means the US military. There are other laws which permit the President to call up the National Guard, the most famous of which is the Insurrection Act. But Trump has not invoked that law. Instead, he invoked a law which had strict prerequisites, which the Supreme Court ruled were not met.

… “Beyond the issue of what ‘regular forces’ means, the majority finds at this stage that the President does not have inherent authority to deploy the military to protect ICE property, therefore allowing him to ‘execute’ the laws with the military.”

… IL Gov. JB Pritzker: “Today is a big win for Illinois and American democracy. I am glad the Supreme Court has ruled that Trump did not have the authority to deploy the federalized guard in IL. This is an important step in curbing the Trump Admin's consistent abuse of power and slowing Trump’s march toward authoritarianism.”

… “American cities, suburbs, and communities should not have to faced masked federal agents asking for their papers, judging them for how they look or sound, and living in fear that President can deploy the military to their streets. The brave men and women of our Guard should never be used for political theater and deserve to be with their families and communities, especially during the holidays, and ready to serve overseas or at home when called upon during times of immense need.”

… “While we welcome this ruling, we are clear-eyed that the Trump Admin’s pursuit for unchecked power is continuing across the country. Illinois will remain vigilant, defend the rights of our people, and stand up to further abuses of authority by Trump and his cronies.”

… CNBC: “The Trump admin will start garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers in default in early Jan. Starting the week of Jan. 7, the Education Dept expects around 1,000 defaulted student loan borrowers to receive notices of administrative wage garnishment. After that, the number of notified borrowers will continue to increase.”

… “The US govt has extraordinary collection powers on federal debts, and it can seize borrowers’ federal tax refunds, wages, and Social Security retirement and disability benefits. The Education Dept can seize up to 15% of a student loan holder’s after-tax income to put toward their debt.”

… “Student loan holders have been under pressure from a weakening labor market, a barrage of changes to the lending system and recent trouble accessing relief programs. More than 5 million student loan borrowers are currently in default, and that total could swell to roughly 10 million borrowers soon, the Education Dept said earlier this year.”

… Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was on Fox threatening states who may have issued driver’s licenses to non-citizens: "What I can do is I can pull their money. That's the leverage I do have. I guarantee you that the federal taxpayer is not going to fund their roads and bridges and their systems when they are putting illegals on the roads."

… That is money appropriated by Congress. It is illegal for the Transportation Secretary to impound funds because a state is doing something he doesn’t like. That has been repeatedly challenged in court and the admin has lost every case on that. So far.

I will be doing my podcast Uncovered tomorrow so no Bulletin for next 3 days. Then I will be back on the 27th with my 5 big year-end Substacks of the 500 Worst Things Trump Did in 2025. It may be depressing to read, but I think it will be very powerful to list them one right after the other in such a massive and comprehensive list of horrors.

I hope everyone enjoys the holidays. My wife has to work the 24th and 25th, so I will be home opening presents for my cat! We have our daughter flying up from FL right after Christmas because we are about to get a lot of snow, so we are saving some fun for when she gets here - going to find some frozen waterfalls.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Trump’s new special envoy to Greenland, LA Gov Jeff Landry, put out a video on how he’s going to convince people there to become part of the US: “My family has lived in LA for 300 years. We have lived under more flags and anyone in the US. But the flag we ended up with now is the greatest flag. All we’re gonna do is go up there and have a conversation with those folks in Greenland. They’re in the western hemisphere so they fit inside the Monroe Doctrine. And we’re going to bring them