Today in Politics, Bulletin 300. 2/3/26

… FOX9 (MN) reported that a DOJ attorney melted down in federal court while trying to defend the Trump admin’s conduct: “SHOCKING FEDERAL COURT MOMENT: DOJ attorney Julie Le, ‘The system sucks, this job sucks’ to Judge Jerry Blackwell who pressed her on why so many court orders are being ignored by ICE/Trump admin. She asked to be held in contempt just so she could get 24 hours of sleep.”

… Reuters: “French police raided the offices of Elon Musk’s social media network X and prosecutors ordered the tech billionaire to face questions in April related to a widening investigation into the platform, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday. The raid and the summoning of Musk are linked to a year-long investigation into suspected abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data extraction by X or its executives.”

… “The probe will now also investigate alleged complicity in the “detention and diffusion” of images of a child‑pornographic nature and the violation of a person’s image rights with sexually explicit deepfakes, among other potential crimes. Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino were summoned to a hearing on April 20. Other X staff were also summoned as witnesses.”

… PBS: “Grok, which was built by xAI and is available through X, sparked global outrage last month after it pumped out a torrent of sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images in response to requests from X users. The French investigation was opened last year by the prosecutors’ cybercrime unit. It’s looking into alleged “complicity” in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other charges.”

… “The investigation expanded after Grok generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust, a crime in France, and spread sexually explicit deepfakes. Grok wrote in a widely shared post in French that gas chambers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp were designed for ‘disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus’ rather than for mass murder - language long associated with Holocaust denial. The chatbot also appeared to praise Adolf Hitler last year, in comments that X took down after complaints.”

… “In Britain, the Information Commissioner’s Office said it’s looking into whether X and xAI followed the law when processing personal data and whether Grok had any measures in place to prevent its use to generate harmful manipulated images.” Director William Malcolm: “The reports about Grok raise deeply troubling questions about how people’s personal data has been used to generate intimate or sexualized images without their knowledge or consent, and whether the necessary safeguards were put in place to prevent this.”

… Trump on Dan Bongino’s podcast: “These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally. The Republicans should say, we should take over the voting in at least 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that I won that show I didn’t win. You’re gonna see something in Georgia.”

… Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): “No need to wonder why this admin raided an elections facility – Trump himself is making it clear it’s a pretext to conduct unprecedented federal intrusion into our elections.”

… Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about Trump’s statement: "We had 3 Republican candidates who were ahead on election day in last cycle, and every time a new tranche of ballots came in they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost. It looks on its face to be fraudulent. Can I prove that? No, because it happened so far upstream.”

… Trump was asked to clarify later today: Q - “What exactly did you mean when you said that you should nationalize elections? Trump: If you think about it, a state is an agent for the federal government in elections. I don’t know why the federal government doesn’t do them any way.”

… Framers of the Constitution now collectively rolling over in their graves.

… NYT: “Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, capitulating to the demands of its Republican chairman days before the House was expected to vote to hold them in criminal contempt of Congress.”

… “For months, the Clintons had been adamant that they would not comply with subpoenas from Chair James Comer, that they have described as invalid and legally unenforceable. They accused Comer of being part of a plot to target them as Trump’s political adversaries and promised to fight him on the issue for as long as it took.”

… “For Mr. Clinton to testify in the Epstein investigation would be nearly unprecedented. No former president has appeared before Congress since 1983, when President Gerald Ford did so to discuss the celebration of the 1987 bicentennial of the enactment of the Constitution. When Trump was subpoenaed in 2022 by the select committee investigating J6, after he had left office, he sued the panel to try to block it. The panel ultimately withdrew the subpoena.”

… Comer announced the Clintons will appear for filmed depositions on Feb 26-27.

… Clinton senior advisor Nick Merrill: “At the 11th hour, James Comer asked for a camera, that’s fine. He can have 1,000 cameras. The Clintons will do this publicly.”

… NYT: “Using a proprietary search tool, NYT identified more than 5,300 files containing more than 38,000 references to Trump, his wife, his Mar-a-Lago club, and other related words and phrases in the latest batch of emails, govt files, videos and other records released by DOJ. Previous installments of the Epstein files, which the dept released late last year, included another 130 files with Trump-related references.”

… WSJ: “DOJ exposed the names of dozens of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, including many who haven’t shared their identities publicly or were minors when they were abused by the notorious sex offender. A review of 47 victims’ full names found that 43 of them were left unredacted in files that were made public by the govt on Friday. Several women’s full names appeared more than 100 times in the files.”

… “DOJ was required to redact all victims’ names prior to releasing the files. Officials said they had spent weeks doing so after receiving lists of names from victims’ attorneys. Since Friday, the agency has been temporarily taking down documents to make new redactions. More than two dozen names of minor victims are exposed in the filings. Their full names were available in DOJ’s keyword search, along with personally identifying details that make them readily traceable, including home addresses.”

… “Brad Edwards and Brittany Henderson, attorneys who represent Epstein’s victims, said they provided a list of 350 victims to DOJ on Dec. 4 to ensure that the names would be redacted ahead of the release. They said Sunday that they are alarmed that the govt didn’t perform a basic keyword search of victim names to verify the success of its redaction process.”

… “Several victims said that the process has been re-traumatizing, forcing them to relive their abuse while racing to prevent the spread of their identities online. Media outlets and influencers on X have begun publishing women’s names. Victims say they have received online harassment since the documents became public.”

… Epstein survivor Anouska de Georgiou: “Much of the information disclosed was drawn from notes taken by federal agents in preparation for my testimony. I cooperated with the US govt when it asked for my help, and now it has failed me—and other survivors—by demonstrating a profound disregard for the safety, protection, and well-being of victims of crimes like these.”

… Dep. AG Todd Blanche was asked on Fox if DOJ was looking to prosecute any of the people in the files: “I’ll never say no. But it is not a crime to party with Epstein. Some of these men may have done horrible things, but the American people need to understand that it isn’t a crime to party with Epstein.”

… Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) reacted on CNN to Blanche’s comment: “That's gross. It's sick. Why won't Blanche release the names of all the men that abused children? Why won't the DOJ release the names of the coconspirators? Why have they decided to hold back 50% of the Epstein files and play games with where Trump's name is and removing this photo and redacting this, but then putting out the names of the survivors.

… Garcia continued: “This has been completely botched and is all part of a massive coverup that’s being directed by the president and Pam Bondi. Blanche should be ashamed of himself. He should apologize to all the survivors.”

… AOC to Meidas: “Why haven’t so many people been prosecuted? Why are Pam Bondi and the DOJ continuing to hide the majority of the Epstein files, which they admit contain even more direct evidence of genuinely shocking crimes and abuse of women, minors, and increasingly men who say they were trafficked in connection to the Epstein orbit? We need to get to the bottom of it. It does not matter if you are a Republican, Democrat, or donor. We are talking about sexual crimes and trafficking.”

… But Trump says it is now time to move on and forget about it: “If you look at the DOJ - they released 3 million pages. It’s like this is all they’re supposed to be doing. And frankly, the DOJ, I think, should just say we have other things to do."

… Q - “You talk about Democrats that are in the Epstein files, but so is Elon Musk and so is your commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. Did you read those new files? Trump: No. I have a lot of things. I’m doing. I don’t know. You mentioned two names. I’m sure they’re fine. Otherwise, it would’ve been major headlines.”

… CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked that question, and when she tried to follow up with a question about justice for Epstein survivors, Trump snapped: You are the worst reporter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. Your organization should be ashamed of you.”

… Trump was asked about his crypto corruption. Q: “The WSJ reported that the royal family of Abu Dhabi invested hundreds of millions into your World Liberty Financial. Why did you take that investment? Trump: Well, I don’t know about it. I know that crypto is a big thing and they like it. My family is handling that. If we don’t do crypto, then China is gonna do it.”

… After Republican holdouts caved again today to pass 5 of the 6 the appropriations bills, their leader Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) insisted to her followers that they didn’t sell out because John Thune supposedly agreed to nuke the Senate filibuster for a vote on the SAVE Act (which would nationalize election rules). Punchbowl: “Luna said they just returned from the WH where they discussed using a ‘standing filibuster’ to get a vote on the SAVE Act in the Senate. Thune is open to that, she said.”

… Luna then posted this: “John Thune, in embracing the Standing Filibuster, will go down in history as one of the greatest majority leaders once he uses this mechanism to puts voter ID (via the Save America act) on the Senate floor.”

… HuffPost’s congressional reporter Igor Bobic called bs: “This makes no sense. Thune is the leader, he can put whatever he wants on the floor at any time but needs 60 votes to open/close debate. Why would he filibuster his own bill? If House members want to invent excuses for folding, at least put up something that make sense, or be shameless about it like Victoria Spartz.”

… Puck’s Chief DC correspondent Leigh Ann Caldwell: “This makes no sense. Thune has not said that he is getting rid of the filibuster for the SAVE Act or anything else. In fact he has repeatedly said that there aren’t the votes to nuke the filibuster. Either Trump told her what she wanted to hear or she heard what she wanted to hear.”

… Punchbowl: “Thune says he hasn’t made any commitments to require a ‘standing’ filibuster to try to pass SAVE Act. Thune says some Senate R’s have expressed interest in that option ‘so we’re going to have a conversation about it’. BUT Thune says ‘the votes aren’t there’.”

… Mike Johnson: “No promises were made.”

… Powerful testimony today in a House hearing on ICE. Aliya Rahman: “On January 13th, on the way to my 39th appointment at the traumatic brain injury center, I encountered a traffic jam caused by ICE vehicles and no signs indicating how to get around it. I had not wanted to pull into a block to chaotic intersection but verbally agreed to do so and rolled down my window after an agent yelled, ‘Move, I will break your f'ing window.’”

… There were conflicting threats and instructions that I could not process while watching for pedestrians. Then the glass of the passenger side window flew across my face. I yelled, ‘I am disabled!,’ at the hands grabbing at me and the agent said, ‘Too late.’ An agent pulled a large combat knife in front of my face. Which I thought was for cutting me. And later learned was used to cut off my seatbelt.”

… “Shooting pain went through my head, neck and wrists when I hit the ground face first and people leaned on my back. I was carried facedown through the street by my cuffed arms and legs while yelling that I had a brain injury and was disabled.”

… “The last sounds I remember before I blacked out on the cell floor were my cellmate banging on the door pleading for a medic and a voice outside saying we don't want to stop on ICE’s toes. When I open my eyes at the emergency room, I learned I was brought there to be treated for assault.”

… Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) then read text messages between ICE agents after one of them shot US citizen Marimar Martinez: “The agent texted, 5 shots - 7 holes. I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book, boys! Oh well, it is what it is. Shit happens.”

Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my weekly podcast Uncovered where I do a deep dive into the top stories of the week. We also have a bit of a schedule change - Ask the Editor will now be on Fridays and I will solicit questions from you on Thurs. Ben had a change in his teaching schedule, and that is why we weren’t able to do it last week. Friday is much better.

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

… Trump yesterday: “I called up President Putin and he’s agreed - they have the same cold wave that we do, maybe different because it’s pretty far away, but it’s the equivalent. I asked him if he wouldn’t shoot for a period of one week and he’s agreed to do it. I personally asked Putin not to fire into Kyiv and various towns and he agreed to do that. And I have to tell you, it was very nice. A lot of people said not to make the call you’re wasting your time, but he did it, and we’re very happy. Ukraine, they didn’t believe it.”

… Financial Times’ Ukraine correspondent Christopher Miller: “Hours after Trump said this, the ceasefire he was promised by Putin unraveled. Russia unleashed a massive attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, with 71 ballistic and cruise missiles and 450 drones, knocking out heating and power as temperatures plunged to -7F/-23C.”

… Phillips O’Brien, Prof of Strategic Studies at St. Andrews Univ: “I hope people understand what happened here. Yesterday, Trump said that Putin had promised not to attack Ukraine in such a way that it would damage their heating. Then a few hours later, that is exactly what the Russians did in a massive attack. Add 2 and 2 together and what do you get? Trump helping Putin by deliberately passing on disinformation