CNN's Kasie Hunt pressed House Ways and Means Committee chair Jason Smith (R-MO) Tuesday on using his subpoena powers to light the fuse on the Jeffrey Epstein files instead of waiting an entire month until lawmakers are back from August recess.
Smith maintained that Americans don't care about the Epstein issue enough for him to take extraordinary steps to release the information.
But Hunt didn't back away.
"There are enough members of your conference who say they care about it, that [House Speaker Mike Johnson] says, 'Hey, we gotta go home early.'" She then asked if there was "any world" in which he would use the power of the subpoena "to learn more about Epstein's finances."
"That is not a common thing that I have utilized within the Ways and Means Committee," Smith said. "But if I felt like that it was a priority for Americans, then, of course. But, like I said, this has not been something that's been a driving force."
Hunt then turned the tables on Smith, saying, "But, you did use subpoena power with Hunter Biden."
"Exactly, we have the authority to use it," Smith said. "But that is the only time that I have used it."
He then reiterated that Epstein "is not the priority of the everyday American who's working 9 to 5, just trying to put food on their table, clothes on their backs, and gasoline in their cars. That is not their focus."
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was ruthlessly mocked Tuesday by CNN analyst Scott Jennings — a former GOP campaign strategist and usually one of President Donald Trump's most faithful supporters on the network — comparing his decision to shut down the House rather than take a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files to King Arthur and his knights from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" running away from danger.
"Is this going to work?" asked anchor Kasie Hunt. "Is Mike Johnson's attempt to get out of dodge going to help defuse all this for the president?"
"Reminds me of the scene in Monty Python. Run away, run away!" said Jennings, gesticulating while the rest of the table laughed.
"You know, honestly, I feel his and the president's frustration here," said Jennings. "For the president, you know, he wants to talk about all the things he's done over six months, which is — and you talk to the white house, they've just clicked off promise after promise that they've delivered on. And then for Johnson, he's trying to pass bills. He's got things to do. And now his entire operation has been held up over this issue. And he's trying to be deferential to the White House because, you know, what has Trump said? Put the grand jury stuff out."
The bottom line, he said, is that "Republicans who control Congress are paralyzed right now. They've done the bulk of the president's agenda. But there's more to do. And now Epstein is sucking up all the oxygen."
"But they're paralyzed by a problem of their own making," chimed in former Biden White House communications chief Kate Bedingfield. "I mean, it was Trump's attorney general who stood up and who said on TV that the list of clients was on her desk, and they handed out the binder to the influencers. I mean, they raised the stakes on this."
"I think the other thing to think about is there's a long history of recess turning the temperature up on an issue, not down," she added. "You're going to have people — you know, you heard [Congressman] Don Bacon saying in his swing district, he's hearing from people. So these members are going to go home. They're going to hear from their constituents. I suspect they're going to come back with more fire in the belly and not less."
Americans appear to be growing tired of reading about President Donald Trump as new data shows sales for books about the president have fallen dramatically during Trump’s second term when compared to his first, Politico reported.
“[Trump] is so familiar to everyone by now, and people are less shocked by new revelations because it enforces their own ideas about who he is or they just don’t care,” an author of a recent Trump book told Politico Tuesday.
Books on Trump sold by the millions during the president’s first term; Bob Woodward’s “Fear: Trump in the White House” sold 1.1 million copies in its first week after publication, the fastest-selling book in its publisher’s history. John Bolton’s “The Room Where It Happened” sold around 780,000 in its first week, and James Comey’s “A Higher Loyalty” sold around 600,000.
Fast forward to Trump’s second stint in the White House, however, and Trump books are barely exceeding 20,000 in hardcover sales.
“Everyone is desperately looking for the next Michael Wolff or James Comey for next year, but it’s not clear there could ever be one again,” a publisher told Politico Tuesday.
Among the most successful Trump books to be published since Jan. 20 of this year has been conservative journalist Salena Zito’s “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America’s Heartland.” The book sold around 23,000 hardcover copies during its first week, despite Trump himself promoting the book on social media ahead of its release.
Another book from journalists Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey and Tyler Page, “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” sold around 6,000 hardcover copies in its first week, and Alex Isenstadt’s “Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power” sold around 3,000.
Michael Wolff, whose 2018 book “Fire and Fury” sold more than 25,000 copies in its first week and would go on to sell close to one million, sold just 3,000 physical copies of his latest book, “All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America.”
The dwindling sales numbers have even led some publishers to pull back on enticing authors with lavish offers, at least on books in the political space.
“Editors are not spending anywhere near the amount of money that they did this time eight years ago,” said an unnamed book agent to Politico. “The days of just writing a book to write a book and checking the box for someone’s career – those days are over.”
President Donald Trump's intelligence chief no longer seems to be working in the best interest of America, according to one analyst.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was one of Trump's most controversial cabinet picks. Not only does she have no direct intelligence experience, but she has also held clandestine meetings with former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, publicly supported people who leaked classified military information, and has ties to shady religious groups.
However, none of those issues rise to the level of using her position to protect one of America's biggest enemies: Russia.
Will Saletan, a writer for the conservative outlet The Bulwark, has seen this disturbing trend escalate over the last week as the Trump administration tries to evade the Jeffrey Epstein saga.
"She's using her position as Director of National Intelligence to sabotage our own government," Saeltan said.
One way they've tried to dodge the Epstein story is by reviving debunked claims about Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. America's intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered in the election by using digital strategies to elevate Trump and damage Hillary Clinton.
But that's not the way Gabbard sees it. Instead, she's told "big lies" about Russia's technical sophistication to conduct such an operation and tried to downplay Russia's interference by saying the country did not change any votes.
"You might ask, when Gabbard takes a small truth like Russia didn't change the outcome of the election by hacking into voting systems, and then inflates it into a big lie that Russia didn't try to change the outcome of our election at all, is she just being careless?" Saletan said on a recent podcast episode.
"Here's the thing: when Gabbard spreads this lie, she's not just protecting Trump," Saletan said. "She's protecting Russia!"
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she was "not sure" if President Donald Trump or anyone in his administration communicated with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) before a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein documents was scuttled by canceling the final day of Congress before summer break.
Although the House was scheduled to hold votes on Thursday, Johnson moved to cut the week short as many members indicated that they would push to force the Trump administration to release files on the convicted sex offender.
"Karoline, did the White House support Speaker Johnson canceling the votes today over the Epstein, the vote over the Epstein file being released?" one reporter asked Leavitt during a Tuesday gaggle.
"I'm not sure if anyone here spoke to the Speaker about that," the press secretary replied. "As you know, we're always in pretty good communication with the speaker of the House."
"But the President himself has said that if the Department of Justice has credible evidence, they should release it," she added.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce explained Tuesday that the United States has withdrawn from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, because it's not "aligned with" President Donald Trump's "America first" values.
By definition, UNESCO "promotes cooperation in education, science, culture and communication to foster peace worldwide," not strictly to meet American objectives.
Nonetheless, Bruce explained that the decision came as the result of an "executive order that the president issued...to have a review of the international organizations that we're involved in to make sure, just like with foreign aid -- are these organizations aligned with the values of the America First framework?"
She claimed that "UNESCO's decision to admit the, quote, 'state of Palestine,' unquote, as a member state is highly problematic."
Therefore, she said, "Continued involvement in UNESCO is not in the continued national interest of the United States. UNESCO works to advance divisive cultural and social causes and maintains an outsized focus on the UN's sustainable development goals, a global, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy."
Former Republican strategist and Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson couldn't help but notice that President Donald Trump is acting differently lately, and he thinks he knows why.
Speaking with a panel of political analysts on Tuesday, MSNBC host Katy Tur remarked that she was trying to understand Trump's motivation around the Jeffrey Epstein files scandal.
"Donald Trump, I think rightfully so, has operated under this idea that he is Teflon, that nothing ultimately hurts him," Tur said. "And he's been proven right multiple times. But this one, he's acting differently. Why is he not continuing to feed the fever of Epstein? Why is he trying to pull back on that? Why, suddenly, on Epstein, is he more moderated? Is he leaning toward the idea that, you know, maybe it's not a good idea for the DOJ to release everything?"
Wilson called it a "profound tell" from Trump that he's legitimately afraid of what might be in the files about him.
"This is a real understanding of what scares him. Donald Trump is not a brilliant man, but he has a certain degree of feral cunning about things that endanger him personally or legally or politically," Wilson surmised. "He has a keen sense of those things. He senses that the Epstein matter is so devastating that if it fully comes to light, you know, it was so devastating that he sent a thousand FBI agents to scrape through every single piece of information that the DOJ had to ensure his name — that they knew everything that was there."
The comment was a reference to a report from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) stating that approximately 1,000 FBI agents were tasked with reviewing all the millions of pages of documents from the investigation to identify mentions of Trump's name.
Wilson said that Trump "acts guilty" while he "sounds guilty" and "looks" and "smells guilty" too.
Meanwhile, he's trying to change the story on the Russia investigation by making treason accusations against former President Barack Obama, when "all these things have nothing to do with Russia. It's to do with Jeffrey Epstein. This is all Epstein."
Wilson said that it appears the matter has consumed his brain and is "wearing him down." He agreed with Tur that Trump sounds much different about this than he does about other matters.
"It's not swagger. It's not good-different. It is scared. This guy is terrified of what's in those — the knowledge that could be in this stuff," Wilson said.
He confessed he has no idea what information there is about "Trump and underage girls or whatever it is." Then again, he said, Trump also "wished Ghislaine Maxwell well when she got sentenced. Who says that about a notorious sex trafficker?"
Tur also walked through the full list of things Trump has tried to use to distract from the matter over the past several days.
Press freedom and immigrants' rights advocates are calling for the release of an Atlanta journalist from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention after he was arrested last month while filming an anti-Trump protest.
Mario Guevara, a native of El Salvador, has lived in the United States legally for more than two decades, where he became renowned as one of the Atlanta area's most trusted immigration reporters.
The Guardian described Guevara, an Emmy-winning reporter, as "the person that immigrants call when they see an [ICE] raid going down in their neighborhood."
That was until June 14, when the 47-year-old was snatched up by police while filming an Atlanta area "No Kings" protest and handed over to ICE.
Guevara was charged with traffic offenses related to his coverage of law enforcement activities earlier in the month, but those charges were later dropped. However, Guevara has remained in ICE custody for more than five weeks under a detainer from the immigration agency, which is now attempting to deport him.
On June 24, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security claimed that Guevara "is in our country ILLEGALLY." However, he has been granted authorization to work legally in the U.S. while he awaits his green card. He also entered the country through legal processes.
"I'm plainly convinced that my situation in this ICE jail is direct retaliation for my coverage," Guevara told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I haven't committed any crimes."
On July 1, an immigration judge granted Guevara a $7,500 bond for his release. But when his family tried to pay it, ICE refused to accept it and instead placed a stay on his bond, which will keep him in detention until a judge rules on his appeal.
Guevara has since been shuffled between several different ICE facilities, an experience he told the ACJ has left him "emotionally destroyed."
At a press conference held Tuesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists—which has headed the legal effort to free Guevara—José Zamora, the group's director for the Americas, said that Guevara is "the only journalist in prison in the U.S. in direct retaliation for his reporting."
"This is a blatant attack on press freedom, on the First Amendment, and on the right of communities, especially immigrant communities, to be informed," Zamora continued. "These communities rely on voices like Mario's to help make sense of the world around them."
Guevara's lawyer, Giovanni Diaz, described the stay placed on Guevara's bond by ICE as a "surprise" to him and the legal team. Though Zamora said he expected that his legal team will ultimately win the appeal, he said it was "a confirmation to us that they wanted to treat Mario very differently than other detained individuals."
But, he said, this is of a piece with how ICE has conducted itself during President Donald Trump's second term.
"The administration has made it perfectly clear that anybody who's not a legal permanent resident at least, or a citizen, even if they've been given certain protections and they've been allowed to remain in the United States legally—ICE has decided that these people are targets as well." Diaz said.
Two of Guevara's children also pleaded for his release.
"My father is a reporter," said Guevara's daughter Katherine. "He chased stories that mattered, stories that told the truth about immigration, about injustice, about people who usually go ignored."
"My dad did nothing wrong. He was arrested while wearing a press badge. He was live streaming. He wasn't in the way. He wasn't breaking any law. He was doing his job," she continued.
"His work wasn't just a job," said Guevara's son, Oscar. "It was a calling. And now he's being punished for answering that call."
Oscar said that his dad's dedication to his work inspired him to become a photojournalist himself.
"We were raised to believe that in this country, freedom of speech mattered, that journalism mattered, that hard work and honesty meant something," he said. "But none of that seems to matter right now."
Former President Barack Obama has responded to President Donald Trump's allegations that he invented Russian intrusion in the 2016 election.
Trump and his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, both allege that there was no Russian hacking of the election. There were never allegations that Russians hacked voting machines; rather, the allegations were that content farms backed by Russiasupported Trump's 2016 election.
Trump alleged that Obama should be arrested and charged with "treason."
In a response, a spokesperson for Obama released a statement noting they would normally ignore such allegations, but felt the need to step in.
"Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one," the statement began, according to News Nation's Kellie Meyer. "These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."
The statement goes on to say, "Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes."
The spokesperson also said, "these findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio."
While it doesn't mention the special counsel, an NBC report noted that Trump appointed special counsel John Durham worked for three years to investigate the Russian investigation. He also found no criminal conspiracy from the Obama administration or other intelligence officials.
CNN correspondent Isobel Yeung confronted Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), a hardcore Trump supporter in Congress and an outspoken voice about canceling foreign aid to Afghanistan, over the consequences of his actions.
Yeung witnessed a baby die in front of her while reporting on the effects of U.S. foreign aid cuts in that country — and told him about what she witnessed. But he didn't bat an eye as he repeatedly told her it wasn't his problem.
"Are you intentionally misleading the American public when it comes to inflating these figures so that you can get what you want?" Yeung asked Burchett.
"No, ma'am, I'm not," said Burchett. "As a matter of fact, $11 million is still a whole lot of money to the average American. If it's one penny going to the Taliban, they'll hate us for free."
"What would you say to — I mean, there are millions of Afghans who are going to be affected by this," said Yeung.
"I would say you're, you're going to have to make it on your own," said Burchett.
"Hundreds of clinics across the country have now closed down," said Yeung. "I literally watched a baby die from malnutrition. What would you say to these families who are living through desperate circumstances, devastated by the results of your actions?"
"I think it's horrific, but it's not due to my actions," said Burchett. "Ma'am, we don't have any more money. We're borrowing that money. And again—"
"But it is due to your actions," said Yeung. "I mean, you have been advocating for this last couple years—"
"No, ma'am. No, ma'am," said Burchett. "It's not our responsibility. We, we have Americans in the same, same position. We have Americans that are having trouble with childbirth. We have Americans going hungry. And you want us to borrow money and send it overseas."
"Is there not any moral responsibility, given that, you know, the U.S. did fight a 20-year war there?" said Yeung.
"No, ma'am," said Burchett. "My responsibility is to my own country and to the district I represent."
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier urged women to report ex-boyfriends who are "in the country illegally."
In a Tuesday post on X, Uthmeier explained that his office had recently handled the case of an "abusive" ex-boyfriend.
"We recently got a tip from someone whose abusive ex overstayed a tourism visa. He is now cued up for deportation," he wrote.
"If your ex is in this country illegally, please feel free to reach out to our office. We'd be happy to assist," the attorney general added.
One commenter noted that the fear of being deported could prevent some domestic violence victims from seeking help.
"What about victims whose status may not be on the up and up? What will you do to protect those victims?" a user going by the name of Relentless Bunny asked. "DV goes unreported anyway and I would bet those numbers have increased since the ICE raids began."
Others, however, applauded the attorney general's tactic.
"How about Mother-In-Laws?" Publius, a self-described independent journalist, quipped.
Politico congressional reporters Jordain Carney posted on X, "Sen. Mike Lee tweeted (and appears to have deleted) what he appears to believe is a resignation letter (??) from Powell."
Semafor political reporter David Weigel and Politico's Ben Jacobs pointed out other errors in the fake letter.
"The typo ridden letter has now been deleted by both Benny Johnson and Senator Mike Lee," Jacobs said.
Weigel replied, "A GOP senator not being able to spot a fake, loaded with typos... good stuff here. If you really think you're going to scoop the Bloomberg terminal on a Powell move, get psychological help."
Veteran and lawyer John Jackson similarly pointed out Lee's ignorance. "Mike Lee is an idiot. He just fell for this fake letter of Jerome Powell resigning."
Influencer and commentator Boston Smalls, jeered on X, "For a senator. This is extremely embarrassing. I mean, Mike Lee is a complete toilet fish, but this is just another level."
Washington Post opinions editor Benjy Sarlin posted a screen capture of the Dow Jones after one person pointed out it wasn't smart to post about "market moving news without verifing it."
"It's funny that day traders, who frequently panic sell off viral rumors, were like 'Oh that's just Mike Lee, he does this all the time, ignore it,'" said Sarlin on X.
President Donald Trump has been attacking Powell for years for refusing to reduce interest rates.
House Republicans have effectively “been paralyzed” out of fear of inter-party dissent on Jeffrey Epstein, and have left key GOP priorities on the cutting room floor ahead of a congressional recess, CNN’s Lauren Fox noted Tuesday.
“You have some conservatives who are very frustrated with the fact that they feel like this is a campaign promise,” Fox said.
“They feel like this is the president putting them in a position where they are up against their loyalty to Donald Trump, and also their loyalty to people who put them in office because they're still getting a number of calls.”
That interparty dissent largely comes from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who filed a legislative measure to force a vote on compelling the Justice Department to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender alleged to have maintained a blackmail operation targeting powerful figures.
Five other House Republicans have signed on to Massie’s measure, and according to Massie, he also has the support of enough House Democrats to reach the required 218-signature threshold to force a vote on the measure.
Fear of being forced to vote on releasing more Epstein files led to the House Rules Committee adjourning early Monday, leaving a GOP-priority immigration bill, on the cutting room floor, and without time to be taken up before Congress goes on recess.
“What you're seeing right now is the House has essentially been paralyzed; the House Rules Committee, which is required for pushing through legislation that will only get Republican votes on the House floor, is essentially stalled out because Democrats were going to push Republicans for yet another vote on releasing the Epstein files,” Fox said.
“Rather than take that vote and potentially face backlash from their constituents, Republicans decided to adjourn that meeting and they have not returned. That means that a series of immigration bills that they were supposed to be voting on this week ahead of the August recess aren't going to come up.”
Epstein continues to plague Trump and GOP leadership, largely a creation of Trump’s own making given that he pledged to release files on the disgraced financier ahead of his 2024 victory, only to disappoint his base with a DOJ memo earlier this month shutting the case down.
“All of the Republican agenda meanwhile has stalled out in this week before congressional recess,” Fox said.
“...That just shows you how much pressure Republicans are under and how much they do not want to continue to be talking about this, even though there are some conservatives who keep arguing they want more information.”
