🐀 Team Trump Plans to Keep Ratf*cking the Epstein Files
Swin on the Trump-Epstein rollercoaster, a major blow to GOP gerrymandering efforts, and Meta’s latest win in court.
On this day in 2002, the US Senate approved the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in response to the 9/11 attacks. More than two decades later, the department would be weaponized by Donald Trump as a means to enact his militarized, wildly authoritarian mass-deportation agenda.
Good morning! Swin here, subbing in for Peter, who is taking a well-deserved break for the day. (My very-Thai name is actually Asawin Suebsaeng, but all my friends call me Swin, and what are our subscribers if not our dearest friends?)
I’m one of the new guys at Zeteo, having moved over to this independent-media oasis all the way from Rolling Stone magazine in late September. I hope we all get to know each other better in the coming months/years/eons, but until then, I want to play a game:
Two of these men I’ve briefly interviewed for an article while we each stood in the restroom, using our respective side-by-side urinals: 1) J.D. Vance, 2) Clint Eastwood, 3) Joe Biden.
If you think you can guess the odd one out, feel free to email me your answer at: asawin@zeteo.com. (I’m guessing you did not think you were going to start your morning this way, given how much Politico and Axios newsletters coddle you like you’re little news-children.)
ANYWAY: In today’s ‘First Draft,’ Donald Trump quietly fumes about the release of the Epstein files, a federal court blocks a Republican attempt to gerrymander Texas, MBS visits Washington, and a Fox alum and resident Islamophobe inches closer to securing a seat at the UN.
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LOL, You Thought They Were Going to Let You See the Files?!?!
After the tense, protracted standoff between Donald Trump and his own House GOP caucus over a vote to release the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files, the House finally voted on Tuesday after the president pretended he wasn’t incandescently mad about it.
Trump was humiliated – “badly,” his own senior personnel privately admit, unable to stop his craven party stooges from obeying him and ignoring the external political pressures. But his administration and his party loyalists have no intention of relenting in their scandalous cover-up.
That House vote – to force Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Trump DOJ to release confidential files on the late billionaire sex offender and former Trump buddy – was overwhelming, following a sustained pressure campaign from Epstein survivors, their families, and others. We already know that Trump’s name is in those still-secret files – but Trump and his top officials have conducted a woefully corrupt, months-long cover-up to keep you from seeing why his name is in those federal files.
So, the cover-up will continue until morale improves.
If Trump signs the thing, which the Senate backed not long after the House vote, it’ll be for show. The White House has an even better insurance policy than the Senate or House could possibly offer. In the days leading up to the vote yesterday, the president demanded that the Justice Department launch investigations of Democratic associates of the late Epstein. The department, of course, hopped to it. At the time, some observers suspected that this doubled as a sneaky, deliberate way for the Trump White House to block the release of whatever still-concealed Epstein records that Trump wanted buried. The administration could claim that active criminal investigations are ongoing, and therefore, it isn’t legally required to hand over certain documents.
Two Trump administration officials familiar with the matter bluntly tell me that – one official’s words – “of course” that is one distinct option that has been quietly discussed by senior Trump appointees lately, including in the West Wing and at the Department of Justice. To some of them, it’s a highly preferable and necessary option. After all, the administration has a vastly different definition of what laws they have to follow (read: if they do it, it’s legal), and of what they are legally required to fork over.
“We are going to do what is legal,” the other Trump official tells me, with a hint of smugness that only comes from possessing raw political power in the rapaciously authoritarian Trump era.
On Tuesday afternoon, the president suffered a blow to his ego and to his aura of personality cult, no doubt. The resistance to Trump’s agenda and his narrative is having an effect – which is why he and his people will resort to an increasingly blatant array of dirty tricks to protect their man in Washington (and Mar-a-Lago).
“Trump’s demand for a ‘new investigation’ into certain Democrats gives the DOJ the perfect legal loophole to withhold entire portions of what is known as the ‘Epstein Files,’” says lawyer Bradley Moss, whose firm represents people who have been targeted by the Trump administration. “Transparency advocates and victims of Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell need to stay on alert for the real possibility that what gets released will be incomplete, heavily redacted, and far from the full universe of information held by DOJ … The real test of Trump’s lame duck status will be how much Republicans push back when DOJ inevitably tries to claim an ongoing investigation warrants redactions and withholdings.”
Indeed, per NBC News: “The legislation says the attorney general may withhold or redact any information that identifies victims or would jeopardize an active federal investigation.”
Roughly translated: Donald Trump thinks you are very fucking stupid.
🗞️ What You Need to Know
Texas congressional map blocked: In a blow to Trump and Republicans, a federal court in Texas blocked the state’s GOP-redrawn congressional map on the basis that it was “racially gerrymandered.” However, the victory may be short-lived if the Supreme Court decides to strike down a key Voting Rights Act protection in Louisiana v. Callais.
Meta wins big: Meta won its antitrust case against the Federal Trade Commission, which accused the Facebook parent company of having a social media monopoly. The ruling is big news for Meta, which could have been forced to spin off both Instagram and WhatsApp.
Trump threatens ABC: After an ABC News reporter asked him about the Epstein files, Trump threatened to have the FCC revoke the organization’s license, citing its “fake” news. While ABC News itself does not have a license, parent company Disney – a well-known target of the administration – does.
Trump teases war with Latin America: As the US ramps up its military presence off the coast of Venezuela, Trump said he has not ruled out putting American boots on the ground. He also signaled that he would be open to conducting strikes in Mexico to fight back against drug trafficking.
From Fox to UN: Former Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce could become the latest Islamophobe to get promoted within the Trump administration to the role of US deputy representative to the UN. Bruce’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled for later today.
Garcia election debacle: The House voted to disapprove of Rep. Chuy Garcia’s decision to withdraw his nomination after the filing deadline, which left his chief of staff as the only democratic candidate in his district’s primary, which some saw as a form of election subversion. The resolution introduced by Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez was passed with the support of nearly all Republicans and 23 Democrats.
🧠 Pop Quiz!
What manga and subsequent anime series inspired Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to build a dedicated theme park as part of his Project 2030 to modernize Saudi Arabia?
Keep your eyes out for the answer below!
😡 WTF
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was cut to pieces with a bone saw at the order of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to US intelligence. And despite Trump saying in 2019 that he was “extremely angry“ about Khashoggi’s murder, he now seemingly has no problem shrugging it off for his good friend MBS.
Trump now claims that MBS “knew nothing about” the assassination, despite US intelligence insisting otherwise. “You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Trump told a reporter in the Oval Office, sitting alongside MBS.
But hey – “things happen,” right?
Read the full story from Zeteo’s Minnah Arshad here.
🇵🇸 Don’t Forget Gaza
Nearly 400 violations: The Gaza Government Media Office said today that Israel has violated the ceasefire 393 times since it began on Oct. 10, killing at least 279 people and wounding 652.
Polish TNT maker under fire: A coalition of pro-Palestine organizations accused Nitro-Chem, a Polish state-owned company, of providing the US weapons manufacturers with a key explosive used in the weapons that have leveled Gaza. Poland is the only major TNT producer in the EU and NATO.
And in the occupied West Bank… In yet another flagrant attack on journalists, Israeli forces fired at Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi Yassin as he was covering a protest near the Nur Shams refugee camp. The network reported he was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound in his leg. A 12-year-old boy suffered shrapnel wounds to the neck.
🚨 Don’t Miss It!
Just how widespread have the Trump administration’s attacks on the free press become? Join Zeteo’s Prem Thakker for a LIVE Town Hall Q&A today at 1 pm ET (6 pm GMT) with UK Journalist Sami Hamdi, who was arrested by ICE agents last month after being targeted by a far-right social media campaign.
Sign up here!
🌏 Anywhere But America
🇸🇾 Syria trials begin over March violence: Syria officially began the trials over the deadly clashes in March that killed hundreds of Alawites in the country’s coastal provinces. Fourteen people, divided equally between Assad loyalists and members of the new government’s security forces, are being tried by Aleppo’s Palace of Justice. Seven face charges, including sectarian strife, theft, and attacks on members of the Internal Security Forces and the Syrian Arab Army. The others are charged with theft and murder, per state media.
🇲🇽 Mexico rejects potential US strikes: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would not allow the US to conduct strikes in Mexico against drug traffickers. While Mexico is open to collaboration and information-sharing with the Trump administration, she emphasized, “we do not accept any intervention by a foreign government.”
🇺🇦 Zelensky to revive peace talks: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is in Turkey today to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he hopes to “reinvigorate negotiations” that could end the war in Ukraine. Ahead of Zelensky’s visit to Turkey, Russia hit two residential blocks in the city of Ternopil, killing at least 19 people.
🇮🇱🇱🇧 Israel kills 13 in Lebanon: An Israeli strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in the Lebanese city of Sidon killed at least 13 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It was the deadliest attack on Lebanon since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah nearly a year ago. The Israeli military claimed that the strike targeted the compound being used by Hamas for military training, which the Palestinian group denied.
🇬🇧 Palestine Action members on trial: Six British members of Palestine Action are on trial in the UK for an alleged attack on an Israeli arms manufacturer last year. Palestine Action, formed to “disrupt the arms industry,” was designated as a terrorist group by the UK. Two dozen members of the group have spent over a year behind bars without trial, in violation of the UK’s six-month pre-trial limit.
💬 Quote Unquote
“Quiet, piggy.”
That was the US president’s response to Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey’s question about the Epstein files. The ‘leader’ of the free world’s words and deeds speak loud and clear: we all need to keep asking him repeatedly about the Epstein Files, including the pages that have his name all over them. Thank you, Mr. President.
🧠 Trivia answer: Dragon Ball
Thank you, all, for reading along with me for my inaugural attempt at doing ‘First Draft’ justice. Perhaps I’m a little biased due to the fact that I work here, but I’ve been following the newsletter very closely ever since Mehdi, Peter, and the gang launched it. I’ve been immensely struck by how much of an essential read it’s become for me, virtually overnight.
I also want to tip my hat to my Zeteo colleagues Melanie Riehl, Akshay Gokul, and Minnah Arshad, who do the lion’s share of the heavy lifting for ‘First Draft,’ and who completed the impossible task of making me look good today. Cheers, everybody, and I hope you had as much fun as I did. (I’ll be seeing you here again soon!) - Swin
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Your morning news wrap-up is very important. Almost everyone i know says "There's a cease-fire in Gaza. It's okay now." I am sorry but empowered to have news for them every day about what's really going on, still going on, never stopping.
Please keep up the reports from Sudan.
It's an essential read for me too. Even if I do get it a bit later in the day.