Trump Botches Epstein Messaging

Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The first year of the second Trump administration  has been full of ominous developments. . Scandals persist.  Especially Epstein. 

Marc Caputo at Axios:

Four months ago, President Trump blocked the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Wednesday's disclosure of thousands of Epstein emails showed why.

Why it matters: The emails contained no real smoking gun. But they shed new light on the relationship between the two men, with gossipy, unflattering descriptions of Trump by Epstein.

Trump was put into a defensive crouch as the news dominated conversation on Capitol Hill, television and social media.

The tranche of emails released by the House Oversight Committee all but ensured the GOP-run chamber would bend to public pressure and vote for a measure to release the investigative records Trump has tried to keep hidden.The White House lobbied two key Republicans on Wednesday to drop their support for the effort, to no avail.

The big picture: Trump's reaction to the Epstein scandal is a window into how he handles major controversies that invite criticism about his leadership.Whether it's a question about the current affordability crisis, COVID in 2020 or the Russia probe in 2017, he has a penchant for pushing back against attacks by calling them Democratic hoaxes or con jobs.

He then tries to kill the controversy with such a heavy hand that it helps keep the story alive.

 

One reason why the Epstein stuff won't go away is that this is one of the rare instances where Trump is concealing and dissembling just like a normal politician trying to conceal dark deeds. Normally Trump is outrageously brazen. He commits many of his worst acts very publicly…

— David French (@DavidAFrench) November 13, 2025

Trump Scandals, Mid-November

Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The first year of the second Trump administration  has been full of ominous developments. . Scandals persist.  Especially Epstein. 

Michael Gold at NYT:

House Democrats on Wednesday released emails in which Jeffrey Epstein wrote that President Trump had “spent hours at my house” with one of Mr. Epstein’s victims, among other messages that suggested that the convicted sex offender believed Mr. Trump knew more about his abuse than he has acknowledged.

Mr. Trump has emphatically denied any involvement in or knowledge of Mr. Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation. He has said that he and Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019, were once friendly but had a falling out.

But Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said the emails, which they selected from thousands of pages of documents received by their panel, raised new questions about the relationship between the two men. In one of the messages, Mr. Epstein flatly asserted that Mr. Trump “knew about the girls,” many of whom were later found by investigators to have been underage. In another, Mr. Epstein pondered how to address questions from the news media about their relationship as Mr. Trump was becoming a national political figure.

Jeffrey Epstein in 2018: "i know how dirty donald is." pic.twitter.com/JYUscFmjdW

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 12, 2025

 

Kevin Breuninger at CNBC:

President Donald Trump has doled out dozens of executive clemency grants in the past few weeks alone, issuing pardons and commutations to major business figures, political supporters and other allies.

Some hope he’s just getting started.

Trump started wielding his presidential mercy powers aggressively on the first day of his second term, when he pardoned roughly 1,500 people who were charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Presidential pardons erase federal criminal convictions, while commutations shorten or cancel prison sentences, and sometimes related fines.

In subsequent months, clemency recipients have included a slew of well-known names, including former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, ex-Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer, Nikola founder Trevor Milton, reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.

On Monday, Trump granted largely symbolic pardons to more than six dozen people who were involved in efforts to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race, U.S. pardon attorney Ed Martin revealed on social media. The people included in the batch of pardons are not facing federal charges related to the 2020 election. The presidential pardon power does not extend to state-level prosecutions.

That group includes Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s onetime personal lawyer and former New York City mayor, as well as his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

 

Leaders Under Fire From Their Parties

Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. It includes a chapter on congressional and state elections.

Robert Birsel at Newsweek:

Seven Democratic senators and one Democrat-aligned independent voted with Republicans on Sunday to secure the 60 votes needed to pass the deal, which failed to address the key Democratic demand of extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits expiring on January 1.

Schumer was being criticized for failing to get Democrats to fall into line, underscoring growing tensions within the party over legislative strategy and leadership as it prepares for the run-up to midterm elections next year.

Alexander Willis at Raw Story:

An Arizona Democrat who was elected to Congress in September but still hasn’t been sworn into office is gaining new support from Republican lawmakers as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) faces growing scrutiny over an alleged attempt to block the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

“We're all hoping that Speaker Johnson is going to read the tea leaves and get to work, swear me in so we don't have to go seek judicial support in him doing his job, but that's where we are,” Adelita Grijalva, who won her election on Sept. 23 and has since launched a lawsuit to force her swearing in, told MSNBC Saturday.

Grijalva and others have accused Johnson of delaying her swearing in to avoid the passage of a discharge petition that would compel the Justice Department to release all of its files on Epstein, who died in 2019 awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The petition, which currently has 217 signatures, needs 218 signatures to force the House to vote on the matter — and Grijalva has pledged to sign it.

Grijalva told MSNBC’s “The Weekend” that a growing number of Republican lawmakers have joined her cause, however, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who told CNN recently that Grijalva “should be sworn in.”

 

Doddering Donald

Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. Trump is showing his age.  Sometimes, it's amusing, but sometimes it's disturbing. Cognitive decline is no joke when it involves someone who can wipe out all life on Earth.

Dan Diamond and JM Rieger at WP:

President Donald Trump hosted one of the more attention-grabbing press events of his term in the Oval Office this week, announcing price cuts for weight-loss drugs, only to be interrupted when one of the attendees collapsed in a faint.

Before that dramatic turn of events, however, Trump appeared to struggle to stay awake as his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and two other deputies took turns explaining the announcement. Clips of the scene have circulated widely on social media and drawn heavy criticism from Democrats.

A Washington Post analysis of multiple video feeds found that Trump spent nearly 20 minutes apparently battling to keep his eyes open at the Thursday event. It was a seemingly stark illustration of the strain of the presidency on a 79-year-old who typically keeps a vigorous travel schedule that even his aides say they struggle to keep up with — and who has reveled in calling his predecessor “Sleepy Joe” Biden.

Sitting behind the Resolute Desk on Thursday, the president displayed a constellation of movements familiar to anyone who has attempted to stay awake during a work meeting. He closed his eyes. He put his hand to his temple. He slouched in his chair.

Farrah Tomazin at The Daily Beast:

He spoke about people being forced to flee to Miami from “South Africa” due to communism, when he meant to say “South America.”

He recalled getting “indicted” over allegations he improperly sought help from Ukraine, when in reality he was “impeached.”

...

Ten months into his second term, 79-year-old President Donald Trump finds himself facing the same kind of scrutiny that haunted his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Over the past 48 hours alone, the Daily Beast has counted at least a dozen times when Trump has either confused names and dates, mixed up facts, or even appeared to drift off in public, prompting the obvious question: Is the president OK?

The confusion over his first impeachment, and his South Africa/South America mix-up, took place while Trump was in Miami addressing a business forum on Wednesday.

At the same event, the president declared communism began “1,000 years ago” (which would be 1025, when Vikings roamed the Earth) and that America’s electricity grid was built “200 years” ago (it was mostly built in the 1960s and ’70s, says the energy department).

He also claimed that the U.S. economy would be “in a depression” without his tariffs (history shows that is not the case), and bragged that the U.S. has “never lost a war” (apparently forgetting the Bay of Pigs invasion against Cuba, or America’s retreats in Vietnam, Korea and Afghanistan, to name just the most prominent examples).

In some cases, it is difficult to determine whether Trump is merely confused, deliberately lying, or simply uninformed about the facts.

 

 

The Departure Lounge of the 2026 Cycle

Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. It includes a chapter on congressional and state elections.

Andrew Solender at Axios:

As of Wednesday, a record 31 House members had already announced plans to either run for another office or retire outright with months still to go until many states' congressional filing deadlines, Axios' Hans Nichols reported.

That number could further skyrocket with mid-decade redistricting pushing formerly entrenched incumbents into hostile partisan territory.

As of Wednesday, a record 31 House members had already announced plans to either run for another office or retire outright with months still to go until many states' congressional filing deadlines, Axios' Hans Nichols reported.

That number could further skyrocket with mid-decade redistricting pushing formerly entrenched incumbents into hostile partisan territory.

Many of the dozens of House Democrats in their 70s and 80s are also bowing to pressure from the party's grassroots to step aside and create space for a new generation of leaders.

The big picture: Looming over all of these dynamics is a growing frustration with the partisan gridlock and performative grandstanding that have sharply driven down the productivity of Congress.The 2024 election cycle saw an astonishing number of relatively young and middle-aged lawmakers with easy reelection prospects opt to throw in the towel without seeking higher office.

Many of those lawmakers cited the chaotic three-week speaker vacancy created by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's ouster in the fall of 2023, which bookended a year of rebellions, brinksmanship and political stunts.

The shutdown appears to be something of a second act, with lawmakers grumbling about how D.C.'s dysfunction is worse than ever.

Between the lines: "It's not just the shutdown," stressed one House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity to offer candid thoughts about the downsides of serving in Congress."The whole experience of being in Congress — violence, dysfunction, emasculated authority, polarization, travel, no cost of living increase for nearly 20 years — can make this a truly miserable job," they told Axios.

"To the degree that the shutdown is involved," said a second House Democrat, "I think it's that it's reflective of dysfunction that makes this job less appealing."

 Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) announced his retirement in an op-ed at the Bangor Daily News:

I have never loved politics. But I find purpose and meaning in service, and the Marine in me has been able to slog along through the many aspects of politics I dislike by focusing on the good work that Congress is capable of producing with patience and determination.

 But after 11 years as a legislator, I have grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community — behavior that, too often, our political leaders exhibit themselves. My team and I have strived to stay above the fray and, for that, we can hold our heads high with appreciation for each other and the way we have gone about our work.

 Additionally, recent incidents of political violence have made me reassess the frequent threats against me and my family. Last year we saw attempts against Donald Trump’s life, and more recently we witnessed the firebombing of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home, the assasination of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota and the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk.

 These have made me reconsider the experiences of my own family, including all of us sitting in a hotel room on Thanksgiving last year after yet another threat against our home. There have been enough of those over the years to demand my attention.

 Up to now, my daughters have been insulated from the worst of it by their youth. But as my oldest daughter reaches school age, the threats, the intolerance and hate that often dominate political culture, and my long absences, will be more keenly felt. As a father, I have to consider whether the good I can achieve outweighs everything my family endures as a result.

CA GOP: Dead Parrot

Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. It includes a chapter on congressional and state elections.  The  passage of Prop 50 in CA will offset the Texas gerrymander.  The D victory in VA will partly offset GOP gerrymanders elsewhere.

Maya C. Miller at CalMatters:

Proposition 50’s landslide win owes its success in part to the abject failure of a disarrayed No on 50 campaign low on funds and unable to keep up with the Yes side’s deluge of savvy advertising.

McCarthy reportedly told his former Republican congressional colleagues that he would help raise up to $100 million to defeat the measure. But that money never materialized. Instead, his No on 50: Stop the Sacramento Power Grab committee only pulled in $11.6 million, with $1 million of that from McCarthy’s defunct congressional campaign account.

While the House Republicans’ super PAC pitched in $5 million to the Stop the Power Grab committee and $8 million to the state Republican Party, no financial help came from President Donald Trump or the White House donor circle, and the president only engaged at the last minute to call the election “rigged” and discourage Republicans from trusting mail-in voting.

Rob Stutzman, a California Republican political strategist, said he didn’t know what happened to the promised $100 million, but his best guess is the decision came from Trump and the White House to not open the fundraising floodgates. After all, a Republican from Texas, Missouri or North Carolina is just as valuable to building a House majority as a Republican from California — and far less expensive to elect.

Charting World War G

Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. It includes a chapter on congressional and state elections.  The  passage of Prop 50 in CA will offset the Texas gerrymander.  The D victory in VA will partly offset GOP gerrymanders elsewhere.

 Bruce Mehlman: