Inquisitr: Epstein Victims Slam Kash Patel for Shocking Trafficking Remark

Survivors blast FBI chief Kash Patel’s “no credible info” line, demanding full release of Epstein files.

Jeffrey Epstein’s survivors are calling B.S. on Kash Patel. After two bruising days on Capitol Hill, the FBI director ignited a firestorm by testifying that the bureau has “no credible information” Epstein trafficked girls to anyone besides himself, a claim survivors say flies in the face of years of reports and interviews.

Patel made the remark under questioning from Sen. John Kennedy and later doubled down when pressed by Rep. Thomas Massie, insisting the FBI hasn’t found solid evidence of other culprits. The assertion sent the hearing into a tailspin, with lawmakers in both parties hammering Patel over transparency and his shifting stance on releasing the full Epstein files.

Within hours, a group of survivors and advocates unloaded. In a joint statement highlighted by national outlets, they said they were “shocked” and “struggling” to understand how Patel could wave away records and victim accounts naming powerful men. They pointed to long-public allegations from Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April at age 41, and to congressional references to FBI interview notes that purportedly identify at least 20 other men.

The survivors also accused Patel of punting to prior administrations whose credibility he himself has questioned in the past. If he hasn’t read the underlying reports or met the victims, they asked, why is he defaulting to old judgments that labeled key accounts “not credible”? Their bottom line: stop deflecting, release the witness interview memos, and meet with survivors who still haven’t been heard.

Capitol Hill isn’t done with Patel, either. Across two committees, he sparred with members over everything from alleged “cover-ups” to a 2003 birthday book for Epstein that Democrats say includes a sexually suggestive note tied to Donald Trump, one Patel said he’d review. Republicans, meanwhile, have leaned on Patel’s line that there’s no verified “client list,” even as they demand more documents.

Context matters. Prince Andrew settled Giuffre’s civil suit in 2022 without admitting liability, a reminder that powerful names have already been dragged into legal proceedings around Epstein’s orbit. And Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted accomplice, was transferred in late July to a minimum-security prison camp, a move now under congressional scrutiny as survivors decry leniency and demand full disclosure of what she told the Department of Justice.

Patel’s defenders argue he’s just stating the status of evidence, not closing the door. But phrasing matters, especially to victims who’ve spent years repeating the same accounts to agencies that, in their view, keep moving the goalposts. Patel’s insistence that there’s nothing “credible” beyond Epstein himself landed like a slap, reigniting the core grievance of the saga: that institutions protected the powerful and failed the vulnerable.

Where this goes next could set the tone for the entire probe. Survivors want the FD-302s out, sworn interviews on the record, and a sit-down with the FBI chief. Lawmakers want receipts, not briefings. And the public, still processing the government’s July conclusion that there is no “client list” and that Epstein died by suicide, is demanding clarity after years of rumor and redactions. The credibility clock is ticking.

What a squirming piece of weasel shit!

Slingshot News: ‘I Haven’t Heard’: Trump Weasels His Way Out Of Accountability When Pressed On The Russia-Ukraine War During Signing Event [Video]

President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order for the 2028 Olympics Task Force last month at the White House. During his gaggle with the press, Trump dismissed a reporter’s concerns that Ukraine is allegedly conscripting elderly to fight in the war against Russia, claiming he doesn’t know about it. As usual, Trump was also quick to blame the war on former President Joe Biden.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/i-haven-t-heard-trump-weasels-his-way-out-of-accountability-when-pressed-on-the-russia-ukraine-war-during-signing-event/vi-AA1MNGuM

Newsweek: Tucker Carlson urges “civil disobedience” if Trump DOJ targets hate speech

Tucker Carlson warned in a special episode of his show on Tuesday that “civil disobedience” could erupt should the Trump administration and other “bad actors” use Charlie Kirk’s death as a means to attack free speech.

Why It Matters

Kirk, 31, co-founder and executive director of the national conservative organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot September 10 during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Immediately following his death, President Donald Trump ordered flags to be at half-staff, and in the days since, some conservatives have openly called for stricter free-speech barriers, including on college campuses.

U.S. Attorney General Pam [“Bimbo #3”] Bondi said and later defended the Department of Justice‘s intent to crack down on “hate speech” nationwide, saying threats of violence are federal crimes under the U.S. Constitution. [“Bimbo #3”] Bondi’s remarks have been met with vitriol from people on both sides of the political aisle, with many quoting Kirk’s own words and sentiments regarding the sanctity of free speech.

What To Know

Carlson opened Wednesday’s episode of The Tucker Carlson Show, a tribute to Kirk called “America After Charlie Kirk,” featuring conservative and liberal guests, including Megyn Kelly and Cenk Uygur, with a near 35-minute introduction about the former conservative commentator’s legacy and how free speech is essentially more vital than ever.

“Consider what it means if you don’t respect free speech, which is another way of saying free conscience—the right of other people to make up their own minds about the basic questions of what is right or wrong, and to express their views on those issues,” Carlson said.

“If you don’t respect the right of other people to do that, and if you take steps to prevent them from doing that, what are you really saying? You’re saying, “I don’t think you have a soul. You’re a meat puppet I can control. I think you’re an animal, maybe a sub-animal. You’re a slave.'”

Carlson then invoked [“Bimbo #3”] Bondi into the argument, referencing her recent remarks on free speech and so-called hate speech in the wake of Kirk’s murder.

Kirk would not have objected to anything more than Bondi’s words of purported defense of free speech, Carlson said, adding that perhaps she “didn’t think it through and was not attempting to desecrate the memory of the person she was purporting to celebrate.

“You hope Charlie Kirk’s death won’t be used by a group we now call bad actors to create a society that was the opposite of the one he worked to build,” Carlson said. “You hope that! You hope a year from now, the turmoil we’re seeing in the aftermath of his murder won’t be leveraged to bring hate speech laws to this country.

“And trust me…if that does happen, there is never a more justified moment for civil disobedience than that—ever, and there never will be. Because if they can tell you what to say, they’re telling you what to think, there is nothing they can’t do to you because they don’t consider you human. They don’t believe you have a soul.”

Jimmy Kimmel Suspension

On Wednesday, ABC announced it had suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely following backlash over comments host Jimmy Kimmel made about Kirk.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said on air.

Following Kirk’s death, Kimmel called the murder “senseless,” and the longtime talk show host had also issued a message of love to Kirk’s family in an Instagram post.

Kimmel’s suspension came hours after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly criticized Kimmel’s remarks and suggested regulatory consequences. The move also coincides with Nexstar Media Group’s pending $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, which is subject to FCC approval—raising questions about whether corporate and regulatory pressures influenced the network’s response.

In the aftermath of the Kirk shooting, some conservatives have praised the firing of individuals from their respective jobs after making comments online that were deemed in poor taste.

Other conservatives have lauded Kirk and advocated for statues to be erected in his honor.

What People Are Saying

Ryan McCormick, managing partner at New York-based Goldman McCormick public relations, told Newsweek: “The abrupt termination of Jimmy Kimmel’s show seems perplexing considering how valuable it had been to ABC. According to TVREV, it ranked as the network’s 10th best ad earner, delivering 11.8 billion national TV ad impressions.

“For something like this to happen, it would likely seem that the legal implications of Kimmel’s controversial statements must either be substantial, the reputational fallout from Kimmel’s recent comments was too severe to contain, or ABC had been planning to do this all along but was waiting for the right moment. From a PR perspective, it seems the die was cast for this day to come when Kimmel made his program politically polarizing (permanently narrowing the audience size).”

New York trial attorney Nicole Brenecki told Newsweek: “If a network parts ways with a host because of something they said, it’s typically a business or contractual decision, not a First Amendment violation. The U.S. Constitution protects individuals from government censorship, but private companies have their own standards and are generally free to make programming choices—even if those choices spark public debate about free expression.”

What Happens Next

One week after Kirk’s shooting and death, tensions remain high and conversation continues surrounding free speech and political violence.

https://www.newsweek.com/tucker-carlson-jimmy-kimmel-abc-trump-free-speech-2131881

‘I Have Nothing To Do With The Guy’: Trump Tries To Escape His Past As He Denies Any ‘Relationship’ With Epstein During Press Gaggle [Video]

During a gaggle with the press outside the White House several weeks ago, Donald Trump denied having had any “relationship” with Jeffrey Epstein. He dismissively told reporters, “I have nothing to do with the guy.” He even claimed he never set foot on Epstein’s island.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/i-have-nothing-to-do-with-the-guy-trump-tries-to-escape-his-past-as-he-denies-any-relationship-with-epstein-during-press-gaggle/vi-AA1MJXMG

Slingshot News: We warned you about Project 2025. Well, it’s here…

Day by day, Project 2025 is being written into existence by the Trump administration and its allies in Congress. And there’s another plan in the works as conservatives prepare to “do it all over again,” says Angelo Carusone, chair and president of Media Matters for America.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-warned-you-about-project-2025-well-it-s-here/vi-AA1MwTfW

MSNBC: Lawrence: One honest thing Trump said about Epstein’s survivors is ‘I haven’t thought about it’ [Video]

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell details how “Donald Trump wants you to believe he was the only close friend of Jeffrey Epstein’s who did not contribute to his birthday book” as Donald Trump dehumanized the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein when he said he hadn’t thought about meeting with them.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lawrence-one-honest-thing-trump-said-about-epstein-s-survivors-is-i-haven-t-thought-about-it/vi-AA1Memf2

Fox News: ICE retreats from job site in upstate New York after being confronted by over 100 protesters [Video]

Workers stayed on a roof in Rochester as agents left with slashed tires following a four-hour ICE standoff. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-retreats-from-job-site-in-upstate-new-york-after-being-confronted-by-over-100-protesters/vi-AA1MenZO

Washington Post: Senators ramp up pressure on Trump to abandon threats to send troops into U.S. cities

A group of Democratic senators is filing a friend of the court brief Tuesday in California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lawsuit against President Donald Trump, stepping up pressure to keep Trump from overriding Democratic leaders and sending National Guard troops into Democrat-led cities like Chicago.

The 19 senators are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to overturn a temporary order issued by a three-judge panel in June that found that Trump had the authority to send National Guard troops into Los Angeles this summer over Newsom’s objections. The Democratic senators argue that the issue has gained greater salience since then, as Trump began threatening to go into other states and cities against the wishes of their governors and mayors.

The senators are amplifying Newsom’s argument that the president’s use of the federal troops — at a moment when local law enforcement officials said they did not need federal support — violated the separation of powers doctrine by usurping Congress.

A federal district court judge initially sided with Newsom on June 12. Then, on June 19, the three-judge panel issued their temporary ruling siding with Trump. California is waiting on a final ruling from the appeals court.

Led by California Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, the group includes senators who represent BaltimoreBostonChicago, and Portland — all cities that Trump has threatened to send in National Guard troops to “straighten it out” as he ramps up enforcement on crime and immigration. Schiff said in a statement that he hoped the Newsom case would become “the line drawn in the sand to prevent further misuse of our service members on the streets of American cities.”

The senators argue in their brief that by federalizing 4,000 California National Guard troops for domestic law enforcement over Newsom’s objections “without showing a genuine inability to enforce federal laws with the regular forces,” Trump violated the Tenth Amendment’s anti-commandeering mandate and contravened the provisions of the Constitution assigning power over militias to Congress.

“Our concern that President Trump will continue to act in bad faith and abuse his power is borne out by his recent deployment of state militias to Washington, D.C. and his stated intent to deploy state militias elsewhere (like Chicago and Baltimore),” the senators wrote in the brief obtained by The Washington Post that will be filed in court Tuesday. They warned that courts are the last resort to “prevent the President from exceeding his constitutional powers” and that failing to do so could “usher in an era of unprecedented, dangerous executive power.”

In court filings this summer, the administration argued that Trump was compelled to send the National Guard to protect federal personnel and property because numerous “incidents of violence and disorder” posed unacceptable safety risks to personnel who were “supporting the faithful execution of federal immigration laws.” Department of Justice lawyers argued that Trump was within his rights to mobilize the National Guard and Marines “to protect federal agents and property from violent mobs that state and local authorities cannot or choose not to control.”

Before Trump sent National Guard troops into Los Angeles this summer in the midst of protests against his administration’s immigration raids, prior presidents had deployed Guard troops on American soil primarily to assist after natural disasters or to quell unrest.

The senators write that the last instance in which a president federalized the National Guard without consent from the state’s governor is when Alabama Gov. George Wallace (D) ordered the Alabama Highway Patrol to prevent the Rev. Martin Luther King, Rep. John Lewis and others from marching from Selma to Montgomery. President Lyndon B. Johnson intervened to protect the marchers.

Our arguments to the court make clear that Trump’s unprecedented militarization of Los Angeles should not be used as a playbook for terrorizing other cities across America,” Padilla said in a statement.

Last month, the president deployed National Guard troops and federal agents to D.C., arguing that they needed to tackle a “crime emergency” that local officials say does not exist. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, a Democrat, last week sued the Trump administration, seeking to force it to withdraw troops from the city.

In recent days, Trump has escalated his warnings to intervene in Chicago, posting on his social media site that the city is “about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” a reference to the Defense Department.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said on social media Monday that Trump’s threats were not “about fighting crime,” which would require “support and coordination” from the administration that he had not yet seen.

The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that it had launched an operation to target immigrants in Chicago as the president vowed a broader crackdown on violent crime. A spokesperson for Pritzker said Monday that the governor’s office has not received any formal communication from the Trump administration or information about its plans.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/senators-ramp-up-pressure-on-trump-to-abandon-threats-to-send-troops-into-u-s-cities/ar-AA1Mb9dp

MSNBC: House Oversight Committee member shares expectations for Epstein estate docs

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/house-oversight-committee-member-shares-expectations-for-epstein-estate-docs/vi-AA1M7TP2

CNN: Epstein survivor who invited Trump to meet with her says she’s heard ‘crickets’ in response

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/epstein-survivor-who-invited-trump-to-meet-with-her-says-she-s-heard-crickets-in-response/vi-AA1M8zQ4