This is a screen capture from a Guardian op-ed about Trump/Epstein. It is so generic.
America does want the truth. Each time, every time. America gets stiffed.
(Crabgrass will not use the image generically, since that goes beyond fair use. Guardian attributes the photo; Kevin Lamarque/Reuters}
Is this one a winner? You decide. Homepage = https://www.votejeffjohnson.us/home
Do I say anything, or let the record stand? First, no Strib or PiPress report, apparently, with the two statewide dailies turning a blind eye. Coverage:
https://knsiradio.com/2025/03/19/former-st-cloud-city-councilman-announces-run-for-governor/
https://knsiradio.com/2025/03/26/733273/
Of interest, I like seeing a guy who's got a few photos up and NONE in a suit.
My understanding is Johnson was a St. Cloud council member who objected to a bloc of Somali immigrants being directed into his community without funding and expansion considerations being adequately planned, and that reminds me of JD and his Haitians in the limited-resource Ohio town.
JD did that pet eating hoax wearing a suit. Also, this Jeff Johnson did no pet eating stuff, but did point out community costs in integrating a bloc of legal immigrants - with that in common to JD.
Walz is the incumbent, and for now seeming to be keeping options open. He's the man to defeat, if he chooses to run for a third term.
There has not been a statewide Republican elected since Pawlenty if memory serves me correctly.
And, last cycle's GOP loser might declare another candidacy, with his unambiguous name recognition. That name recognition is NFL veteran and stout Catholic anti-abortion guy, Matt Birk, who was Lt. Gov. candidate with Dr. What's-his-name.
I looked it up. Scott Jensen, MD. Walz took 52.3 percent of the vote, with Dr. Jensen closer than many expected.
In any event, this candidate, Jeff Johnson of St. Cloud, MN, is now with us, as a declared and filed GOP candidate, with a candidacy web site. Without any strong contender, he has his shot.
(MPR notes Kendall Qualls as a declared GOP Gov candidate, but he's a suit, and has too many l's in his name.) Anyway, expect the DFL to win, and move on.
Those interested in AI might take a break from their prompting favored LLMs and consider:
Regulating eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) May Harm Consumers
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2209.03499
LLMs now predominate discussions and experimentation, but the black box vs glass box consideration is worth the time it takes to think it over.
For context on xAI, this Google Scholar search. Search terms fed Google Scholar = xai explainable artificial intelligence
Nothing special, but the first page of search returns has two IEEE items, a 72page survey, and a DARPA item. Having not read any of the returned items, no comment. Having not fully thought over the somewhat lengthy highlighted item, ditto. Enjoy.
 |
| https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/04/trump-justice-department |
Readers can click the image to read its text, or simply open the link.
The headline is a topic sentence, mid-item, per Guardian, here. Everyone not a Gazan should be thankful to not be a Gazan under war=-crime siege. Starvation as a tool of ethnic cleansing is extremely inhuman.
Guardian reports:
While Israeli strikes continued in Gaza, Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, led prayers at al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, provoking outrage among regional powers. Ben-Gvir was among a group of about 1,250 people who prayed at the compound on Sunday under the protection of the Israeli military.
The compound, which Jews call the Temple Mount, is a highly revered site – the holiest in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. The site is under Jordanian custodianship; under a decades-old agreement, Jews are allowed to visit but not pray there.
Jordan condemned the visit, which it described as “an unacceptable provocation”. Its foreign ministry said it “affirmed the kingdom’s absolute rejection and strong condemnation of the continued unacceptable incursions by the extremist minister Ben-Gvir”.
Ben-Gvir’s visit was in honour of Tisha B’Av, when Jews mourn the destruction of two Jewish temples, and was the first time that an Israeli minister had publicly prayed at the site.
The compound has been the scene of clashes in the past, with Israeli police raiding the mosque in 2023 after Palestinians occupied it in response to reports that Jews were planning a religious ceremony there.
Ben-Gvir called for the annexation of Gaza and for Palestinians to leave the territory while at al-Aqsa on Sunday. He said in a post on X: “A message must be sent: to ensure that we conquer all of the Gaza Strip, declare sovereignty …. This is the only way that we will return the hostages and win the war.”
Benjamin Netanyahu put out a statement after the visit [...]
Ben-Gvir's statement is a confession of ethnic cleansing intent, a war crime, with the IDF carrying out the Netanyahu Cabinet Member's intent. War crime is the only sane conclusion as to starvation and murder at food sites.
The stories tell themselves, all on the topic of Trump and money-sucking from those wanting access/favors -
Fang's post: https://www.leefang.com/p/big-pharma-fingerprints-behind-ousting -- title:
Big Pharma Fingerprints Behind Ouster Of MAHA-Aligned FDA Official
Dr. Vinay Prasad scrutinized a potentially dangerous drug. Then came the public attacks. Behind the scenes, pharma hired lobbyists and paid think tanks.
The Fang detailing of lobbying influence beyond a reasonable level is its own story, within which Fang includes a stock chart -
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Jciz!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8ef2ef5f-275c-4bc7-b24f-cc43d6c22f23_1235x834.png
There were many who on July 28 knew what was up, and buy low, sell high is good advice, even if you're trading on insider knowledge but expecting to not get caught.
Who should get caught? It is not easy to smoke out insider dealings, but go figure.
If it smells off to you, you have an IQ over 70, but these profiteers off non-public knowledge almost never get caught. Influential names, represent an even lesser likelihood of being caught, and if caughtx, being lightly punished, if punished at all.
Elon Musk gave $5 million to Donald Trump’s super PAC during a dramatic and bitter falling out with the president, new filings show.
The donation to MAGA Inc. was made a month after Musk said he had “done enough” political spending, and he also gave $10 million that same day to help Republicans keep control of Congress.
The contributions came weeks into Musk’s public feud with Trump, as the tech billionaire was slamming Republicans for voting for the megabill that he argued would blow up the deficit. Still, the SpaceX CEO donated $5 million each to the Congressional Leadership Fund, the Senate Leadership Fund and MAGA Inc. on June 27, according to the groups’ filings with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday. Those are the top super PACs supporting the House and Senate Republicans and the Trump political operation.
The next week, the world’s richest man said he would start his own political party.
Musk, who spent $290 million of his own money to boost Trump and other Republicans last year, led the cost-cutting efforts of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in the first few months of the Trump administration. When he left that role in May, he also suggested he was done with political giving for the time being: “If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I don’t currently see a reason,” he said at the Qatar Economic Forum.
The $5 million donation to the Trump-linked super PAC MAGA Inc. came weeks after Musk had torched Trump on social media, first over policy differences surrounding the president’s megabill, but also in escalating personal attacks. Musk later deleted some posts, but resumed his criticism of Trump, including his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, in July.
 |
| GOP House and Senate funding. |
The item has this headline and opening image:
Opinion | Democrats just might find democratic socialism refreshing
It isn’t so different from the progressive populism of the 20th century. Which worked for them.
August 1, 2025 at 6:00AM
"In a climate of political turbulence and fading trust in America’s two major parties, self-described democratic socialists are demonstrating renewed acceptance of progressive populism," Ron Way writes. Supporters of Zohran Mamdani cheer election results as his victory is announced at a Democratic Socialists of America watch party at Brooklyn Masonic Hall in Brooklyn, June 24. (VICTOR J. BLUE/The New York Times)
That image does show cheered young people, and the future of the Democratic Party is in their hands, with Nancy Pelosi a dinosaur who has been instrumental in our nation not having Pharma reform, or Medicare for All. Go with the trend, the trend is your friend. And, yes, the web is full of naysayers.
The naysayers -- What's their alternate agenda, and who's the source of income they rely upon?
Question pundits.
And the URL for that image of joy -
https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/KO573ID6HVHZ7ODAWWTVSK4UGY.JPG
________________UPDATE_____________
LINK.
.............................................
Also, as an UPDATE, a slightly older DWT post, by a few hours:
PLUS: A day ago DWT kept after the anti-PEOPLE bill Trump's people (AND MY REP EMMER) call big/beautiful. Please do read that item.
And, speaking of EMMER, there is this weeks ago about him and news. It's not as powerful a story as others listed above, but it does have an EMMER image.
Finally, a DWT item from early last month (July 9) that deserved earlier comment, with this lead image:
BOTTOM LINE: Just keep up with DWT posting, it is well worth your time.
Link.
Yeah, that may be news, but hey, look at Blanche - Maxwell and related podcasts. Nothing to hide, but you know, Trump's name is in the Epstein files.
--------------------------------------------------
Also, try a web search=social security new pin number
Is this something DOGE cooked up, a "protection number" or what?
The situation was not researched by Crabgrass, but online, there is this.
MSN carry of a Strib item, without any paywall, about a leech pit:
•
Germany in the '40s always found somebody to run the trains to Auschwitz, although that's an unrelated fact. Clearly.
UnitedHealth does not run trains. (Warren Buffet does that although his trains are good trains.)
Luigi is headed toward trial. Jurors will have to balance emotions in that one. He kept a journal.
I'd acquit him, but I'm far from any seat on that jury. Geographically. Attitudinally too. The prosecutors want his head on a platter.. He lacked a pest exterminator's license, of that I'd convict.
UPDATE: Related news. Fraud on top of failed rapaciousness?
 |
| click image to read fine print |
Is there any other way to see things?
--- image source: https://www.twincities.com/2025/07/29/justice-department-epstein-maxwell/
Why is Jon Stewart making hay over a birthday greeting? Who released the birthday greeting to Murdoch's WSJ people? Crabgrass sure as fuck cannot say. JD a while back visited the Murdochs in Montana.
Crabgrass can guess. Connecting dots which are speculatively there, but unconnected in the public domain. That's guessing.
Buying the car. Driving the car. This link.
Palintar. JD and Thiel know each other well. Finding needles in haystacks, there's a saying.
Now, appearing on YouTube. This, this and this. Crabgrass posted none, but it got posted. Somebody sorted out stuff and fueled the fires.
Maxwell in the news again, but that's because Epstein is.
If Trump's out, JD is in, and Speaker Johnson is next in line. Johnson, who he is, seems that it would stoutly cement JD in place, given the succession, were JD to be installed in the White House. Who'd want Johnson's end times finger on the button? Or is that too extreme a way to say it?
It seems the walls are closing in on Trump, odd things - that 1991 stuff - from somewhere that data exists, somewhere in accessible form, data mining is a thing and now it hits YouTube. Gee how did that happen?.
The investment world runs on speculation. Gambles, some more informed than others.
Speculation, disparaged, is conspiracy theories. So looking for connections among dots is speculation, good stuff like Warren Buffet speculates, not conspiracy theory bad stuff, no. the good kind. Right?
Grok4 is in the news to where you can search it on the web. Hot stuff! Elon's Xai is moving fast. Palintar, Xai. New stuff, capabilities while that Utah NSA data stack sits. To be mined. Right?
Who said, "Collect it all?" That was DOGE, if not saying it, then doing it while having access to government data stores. The sheer capacity of that data operation in Memphis does get you thinking, doesn't it? Smart people doing smart things with money no issue.
You have the car then it is yours to drive. Friends can ride along. Joyriding.
But sound, sober driving, not joyriding, if it is you having to talk to the judge. But try to have it never reach the judge. Be prudent.
--------------------
Just here, there, things bubble up into the collective consciousness, and consequences can happen.
We live in interesting times, per the reported Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."
What do I know? Never even ever been to Silicon Valley.
--------------------
UPDATE: A greeting from where, the Wasatch mountain trails?
Donald Trump did not make these decisions. They were made by bottom-line considerations by firms aware of Donald Trump.
Link. Why it matters to me is I admit to a fantasy/hope that Hunter Biden would move to Minnesota's CD6 to run against Tom Emmer. He has the name recognition, and could bury Emmer with the slogan, "It's An Upgrade".
It would be. Another slogan, "Not your crypto bootlicker."
Mr. Emmer and others might feel otherwise, but from reports of the screed young Biden ranted, it was an honest, heartfelt thing. Not like praising that fucking Trump budget bill as good for the people.
[That's a circumstantial inference. No honest and cogent human being could honestly say that bill was good for the people. Republicans say it, yes, but I stand on the circumstantial inference.]
So, former Israeli Premier Bennett has said, not Mossad. and Crabgrass cannot prove that wrong, but then, the money did not materialize out of thin air. So, the headline from The Times, mid-item raises a possible reason Trump wants Epstein questions buried with Epstein, but that's not ringing any bells with MAGA people like MTG, who want the people (them) to have the truth, the perps named, and all.
Sen. Wyden's Democratic Party membership on committee posts has given him a glimpse where he says we all should see and weigh. Crabgrass agrees. Russian money and Trump hiding deep from it is of interest, given how the "hoax" word has been so coarsely abused. This is smoke under the old saying.
Second source online, again quoting Wyden, who is on YouTube over this speaking slowly enough that you will not mishear a word -
Wyden discussed the revelation in a Thursday floor speech, saying, “Last year, the Biden administration allowed our investigators to look at portions of the file. We did that at the Treasury building. Here is what it says. Treasury’s Epstein file details, Mr. president, 4,725 wire transfers.”
“Let me repeat that: 4,725 wire transfers, adding up to nearly $1.1 billion, flowing in and out of just one of Mr. Epstein’s bank accounts. If you ask me, that is more than 4,000 potential lines of investigation right there. Hundreds of millions more flowed through other accounts. That’s even more to investigate. The file shows that Mr. Epstein used multiple Russian banks, which are now under sanctions, to process payments related to sex trafficking,” Wyden said.
Wyden’s findings were also reported on in the New York Times. Wyden shared the Times article and added, “Epstein had to pay for all his sex trafficking somehow. Further evidence shows he used Russian banks to process hundreds of millions in payments. Again, this is info in the possession of the Trump administration, but they’re refusing to investigate.”
The Miami Herald’s Julie Brown, who has spent years investigating Epstein, shared Wyden’s remarks and noted, “In almost every interview I’ve given on this story, I’ve said ‘Follow the Money.’”
Wyden’s comments come amid a firestorm of controversy around the Trump DOJ and FBI releasing a memo saying that the main conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein are false, a claim that has deeply divided the MAGA base.
The Treasury Department responded to Wyden’s remarks in a statement, saying, “Despite Senator Wyden’s fantasies, there are no hidden files at Treasury. The Biden Administration had access to this information during its tenure. The fact that Senator Wyden never asked Joe Biden or Merrick Garland to address this matter shows this is pathetic political theater and a complete joke.”
The numbers are real or not, and whether Biden and Garland did a thing about them is an irrelevancy. They are real or not, so let the truth out. The bottle's been uncorked, and bullshit from Trump "hoax" musings only heightens interers.
BOTTOM LINE: The genie is out of the bottle.
Someone said "Russia, Russia, Russia" disparagingly, showing hubris in so speaking, but - ITS BACK!
______________UPDATE______________
Something Crabgrass expects to be fleshed out, other banks and other amounts, and were any Israeli?
_____________FURTHER UPDATE___________
As a mental exercise, if I were a Mossad administrator running Epstein as an asset, I'd possibly think to use a Russian Bank rather than a local one as an intermediary in paying things. Or a Cypriot Bank, Ukraine Bank, whatever. Multiple intermediaries. And he'd be an independent contractor and not an employee on the books, so Bennett could say he was not employed by Mossad without stretching truth too much by implying no tie, as opposed to no regular paycheck on the books.
Heart and head both say Mossad, no matter what Bennett or others deny, ran Epstein. Israel getting alliances by blackmail might be more reliable than by moral allegiance to Zion.
Doing what's done in Gaza could cloud Zionist loyalty. Having video might bind faster, firmer, longer.
FREY: The fucker lost. Start with that. End with that. A caucus was held. The other guy packed the caucus. A vote taken. Frey lost. Now trying to undo stuff by appeal to inner party operatives. They in turn can be honestly fair, or give Frey something circumstances say he does not deserve.:
Strib coverage, (while wanting objectively while valuing a good story)::
Democratic socialist Omar Fateh just won the Minneapolis DFL endorsement for mayor. Now what?
Mayor Jacob Frey’s campaign is challenging the results of the DFL convention, saying the numbers don’t add up.
July 22, 2025 at 6:00AM
Three years ago, Minnesota Sen. Omar Fateh was in the hot seat, sitting through a Senate ethics investigation into an alleged quid pro quo with a Somali news outlet.
On Saturday, Fateh was riding high, as Minneapolis Democrats endorsed him to be the city’s next mayor over incumbent two-term Mayor Jacob Frey.
Now the race begins in earnest, reflecting a conflict that’s been brewing for years: A comparatively moderate [their opinion from which Crabgrass differs, and opinion early in a "news" item]Democratic mayor against a rising young progressive who’s part of the ascendant Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) wing of the party — an election that is likely to draw national attention and money while potentially upending the power dynamic in City Hall.
Saturday marked the DFL’s first endorsement of a Minneapolis mayoral candidate in 16 years. The party endorsement carries no legal weight, but it’s highly sought after in an overwhelmingly Democratic city, and can open up party resources to Fateh.
It also marks another win for the DSA, after Zohran Mamdani defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s mayoral Democratic primary last month. Fateh has drawn national attention since Mamdani’s win, with some calling him the “Mamdani of Minneapolis.”
Some perspective
The endorsement represents a fraction of Minneapolis voters — hundreds of delegates who tend to be more politically engaged than the average voter. Over 140,000 people voted in the 2021 Minneapolis election.
And the delegates’ favor hardly predicts the winner of the fall election.
In 2017, Frey finished second in the convention and went on to win. [rank choice voting at fault]
In 2021, after one of the most tumultuous years in the city’s history when Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, community organizer Sheila Nezhad won more votes than Frey at that DFL convention. During that campaign, Frey resisted pressure to support defunding the Police Department and advocated for the mayor to have more power and control over police. He was re-elected by 10 percentage points in a 17-person race.
History suggests a Frey ploy, reemployed. Run many, have name/incumbancy recognition. Strib continues with wording highlighted by Crabgrass]:
Fateh supported the failed ballot measure to overhaul the Minneapolis Police Department.
Last year, a more progressive bloc won control of the Minneapolis City Council, including democratic socialist Robin Wonsley. She and her progressive allies on the council have sought to block much of Frey’s agenda and have been skeptical of police funding, pointed the finger at landlords and developers for rising housing costs, and criticized Frey’s treatment of the unhoused as lacking compassion — views shared by Fateh.
Frey is hard on homelessness is what that says, and the council majority opposes his heavy hand.
Fateh also supports a ban on the police interacting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Fateh called a June federal drug raid in south Minneapolis “blatant fascism,” accused MPD of cooperating with ICE, and said it would be “unconscionable” for police to help with crowd control at an ICE raid.
Frey has said the militarized operation was a bit tone-deaf, but defended MPD’s involvement in what turned out to be an investigation into money laundering and human and drug trafficking.
Crabgrass has not tried following any Strib links. Strib has a paywall.
Fateh ousted an incumbent before
Fateh has been an underdog before. He unseated veteran state Sen. Jeff Hayden by nearly 2,000 votes in the 2020 DFL primary.
That victory also came with heightened scrutiny. A federal investigation into ballot fraud during the primary later led to his brother-in-law being convicted of lying to a grand jury about his handling of absentee ballots as a campaign volunteer. No other charges were brought, but the case became part of the Senate ethics investigation.
Fateh was the first Somali American elected to serve in the state Senate, yet Frey has generally enjoyed support among many in the East African community and has recently been highlighting his Somali support.
Yeah. Sure. On the Somali support. Selective history is probative but biased, since negatives against Frey go unreported. Now the nitty-gritty -
Frey campaign challenging the results
The Frey campaign is challenging the results with the state DFL, questioning why only 578 votes were recorded on the first ballot, even though over 1,000 delegates and alternates were checked in.
The campaign argues there’s no plausible reason why over 20% of the total delegates and upgraded alternates would skip voting on “the most hotly contested, highest-interest business of the convention.”
Near the end of Saturday’s convention, which featured numerous voting delays, convention co-chair Ann Friedrich announced Fateh had secured the endorsement after he won by a clear visual vote of delegates holding up their badges.
Monday evening, Minneapolis DFL Chair John Maraist said he hadn’t had a chance to review Frey’s official challenge, but said, “We are confident that our handling of the convention will be upheld.”
Dave Orrick of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.
Open with a gut punch to the candidate the owner likely does not favor. Great "news." Then at the end indicate the inner party will face things, AND WHAT IT DOES WILL REALLY MATTER.
The inner party cannot in good conscience nor with appearances of fairness preeminent, interfere with what actually happened, and give Frey something he failed to achieve at caucus-
CAN THEY?
WILL THEY?
Because there will be an election in the fall, and passions are now hot, the Crabgrass guess is the inner party will want to cool things without leaving Frey on an island, and will issue some statement that serious irregularities appear to have happened but they will not interfere with the result of voting at a caucus, since the ultimate question awaits the general election and passions there will be least inflamed by inaction now, so that logic and merit hold sway in November.
Election integrity then will be paramount, while by doing nothing now besides clucking a little does the least partywide harm.
Anything more heavy highhandedly favoring the incumbent conservative would show itself to be very bad politics against an ethnic-and-policy minority member, early and notably, so just sit tight.
But it is the Minnesota DFL, a party of politicians first and foremost, hence a party not immune from awful political decision making.
Aside from that, fair use? The entire Strib item is presented, since a major theme of the post is whether Strib has a finger on the scale in its reporting, which requires thorough airing. Presenting it all, with a few marginal comments, is the best way for readers to see Crabgrass opinion with that opinion being presented as minor to the full report itself, which readers can see and weigh. Crabgrass in effect believes this is preliminary with intervening time, so letting the chips fall as they have is best handling.
_______________UPDATE______________
Related to Frey's bitching about losing the caucus, is the larger question of whether the Dems should put their civil war aside with the goal being to temporally unify enough to win the midterms, ideally in both houses of Congress, use such a victory if they acheive it to set hearings agendas, and then to play out the civil war in their ranks, chips falling as they may.
Progressives would end up losers that way, since they are outnumbered in the Democratic Party, and it would be same old same old redux, but unseating the Republican federal trifecta is more important to the factions within the party than any other thing. Or should be.
Repeal the Trump Bill could be a unifying theme. That whole story is for a future full post, but is footnoted now. Trump's mental situation is also a unifying need to put down roots of sanity as quickly as feasible, for the People. Crabgrass believes JD Vance is bold enough to push a palace coup once he sees it required, Trump showing himself more and more unhinged day by day. Vance would have to act per Constitutional procedures, the problem being the bunch of misfits that make up the Trump Cabinet, whose agreement Vance would have to seek. More later, perhaps.
Below, is the by-nations viewing that Google Blogger reports to show blog authors which nations have which level of readership, where one can choose time periods and this is the default, LAST SEVEN DAYS. Why the numbers are as they are is unknown, one guess is that Brazilian interest may relate to the two most recent heads of state there and how they're doing.
 |
| click the image to enlarge and read |
I would have expected the United States number to be highest, but it is not. Hong Kong and Singapore show up, but mainland China is absent. So there is a Chinese readership, but US content might be regulated or censored on the mainland. South American numbers are higher than expected. The numbers suggest the effort to keep posting is justified, and all readers are thanked for their interest.
Give it a try. Crabgrass ran it on three search engines: Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo.
Bonus: Here's the link to the Durbin letter to Bondi calling bullshit on DOJ foot dragging and liberties with the truth:
Need more? It seems enough for me, and so far it appears Bondi is yet to respond. She should quickly, before she gets fired.
___________UPDATE____________
Two returned items: MSN and Yahoo. It appears full Epstein file content release is a hot topic. The FBI seized much. Make it ALL public. Quit dicking around and do it. The longer the stall, the worse it must be in terms of implicating Trump and other bigwigs.
We can then, after full transparency, move on to other news of governing the nation with trust.
For now, trust is absent with all the crap and withholding.
BACKGROUND: Eptstein file - all the stuff - vs Maxwell Grand Jury transcripts, and Epstein Grand jury transcripts, nothing else. First, Trump likely was not mentioned before the grand juries deciding whether Maxwell's actions were criminal. (Ditto, Epstein.) Maxwell was the focus there, nobody else, so what's expected? That tailored release stuff is a dance ticket nobody will buy. Moreover, there's something at risk, if the Maxwell appeal to the Supreme Court, a cert petition, is granted and there is a remand for a new trial - and, lo, all these transcripts are published and a new trial would be prejudiced that way and figure the rest out - so what's the second reason to say limit it to those transcripts where trump being mentioned is nil? Wha's 'appening? Who's in favor of that, aside from Trump and Bondi's folks at DOJ?
Why Is Todd Blanche Risking the Conviction of a Sex Trafficker Rather Than Use Fruits of Already-Completed Review?
- with reader commentary. At the end an invitation to post a comment to add to the thread. Which still seems to be an open thread.
One comment links to:
https://bsky.app/profile/kyledcheney.bsky.social/post/3luhy4ed6ws2x
That social media item discusses the judge who'll be assigned Trump's lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch et al. AND that item has its own thread, including:
PBS has two related items to the birthday letter and the Maxwell transcripts.
Keeping EmptyWheel as primary source (there's stuff all over the internet) see: EW posts, here and here.
It seems as if the mainly MAGA discontent over Trump/Bondi trying to quash full release of the Epstein files, chips falling where they may, IS A DISCONTENT GROWING LEGS.
May the full truth surface, and the analysis be fair.
UPDATE: Link checking was needed, links should be fixed now.
The Hill:
Klobuchar defends Democrats for inaction on Epstein under Biden
Many paragraphs, many things argued, zero mention "Bill Clinton" and "Lolita Express flight logs."
Read it and see if it's rhetoric over substance in your view. Clinton may well be one of several Dems involved, but at least for him, if nobody else, Biden's people did not see a need to cast shame that direction. A quote from the story's later paragraphs:
Klobuchar emphasized that Democrats have not been as focused on the issue as Republicans have been.
“Blaming Democrats for this, to me, I’m sorry. This is- the people that have been fomenting this are right-wing influencers, members of Congress,” she said.
“People have a reason that they want to know what’s in there. They believe the President when he said there’s stuff in there that people should see. Wall Street Journal. These are not bastions of liberalism or wild progressives that have come out and said the public has a right to know what is in these documents,” she continued.
Trump, in a Truth Social post on Friday, asked why the Democrats did not release the files linked to the disgraced financier when they controlled the Senate and White House.
“If there was a ‘smoking gun’ on Epstein, why didn’t the Dems, who controlled the ‘files’ for four years, and had [former Attorney General Merrick] Garland and [ex-prosecutor Maureen] Comey in charge, use it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He added, “BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!”
Notice how Trump also glides and slides over Bill Clinton as an answer to his rhetorical question.
Klobuchar and Trump both having cause to bend the angles rather than squaring truths.
Both, politicians. Both DC veterans, Amy more than Donald, having been there longer.
UPDATE: Neither of the two apologists - politicians mention Ehud Barak either.
Tucker Carlson is running anti-Israeli themes, (NOT "antisemitic" which was co-opted as all-Jews inclusive yet Arabs are Semitic people and Arabic and Hebrew are both Semitic languages - but Yiddish is Germanic). And, related, Tucker has gone virulently anti-Epstein as a crusade.
This is not saying Tucker is wrong. Nor that he is right. In one of the linked items, near the end where Carlson and his guest trash pedophilia as "the worse crime." Torture and murder exist and are objectively more extreme. Clearly. The two over clutch at their pearls.
With those qualifications, three Tucker links are given and readers are encouraged to view them fully but skeptically when they editorialize too much. Links are in decreasing importance, as Crabgrass sees things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BGfo4yiCc8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAJvmOjkTz8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHayOkXe5ig
The first part of the first linked item develops Epstein related facts Crabgrass had not crystalized in mind.
The speech is strident at too many points. And there are points of disagreement and substantial agreement with the speech content. See what you think.
The last item examines how Christians living in Israel/Palesting are experiencing things.
The speech was linked to in a previous post.
The Democratic party of Minnesota’s largest city has endorsed a democratic socialist over a two-term incumbent mayor, according to Minneapolis DFL convention co-chair Ann Friedrich.
State Sen. Omar Fateh won at least 60% of the Minneapolis DFL delegate vote Saturday, defeating Mayor Jacob Frey in the party’s first endorsement of a mayoral candidate in 16 years, according to an initial announcement by Friedrich. Fateh won by a clear visual vote of delegates holding up their badges.
[...After endorsement Fateh spoke] “Today we witnessed a rejection of politics as usual, a rejection of the inhumane way we have been treating our unhoused neighbors, a rejection of the way our mayor has turned his back on labor,” Fateh said. “Yes, we secured the DFL endorsement, but we know the status quo are going to do anything and everything to maintain power. They’ll have all the money in the world, they’ll have all the influence in the world ... but they don’t have you.”Frey campaign manager Sam Schulenberg said in a statement: “This election should be decided by the entire city rather than the small group of people who became delegates, particularly in light of the extremely flawed and irregular conduct of this convention. Voters will now have a clear choice between the records and the leadership of Sen. Fateh and Mayor Frey. We look forward to taking our vision to the voters in November.”
Well, the entire city will vote in November. Meanwhile, Minnesota has a primary system which likely includes city offices as well as State offices, so Frey will run somehow, and hopefully lose.
He's been nothing special, and if replaced, a new dawn will be welcome by many.
Alpha News, an extreme right-wing local Minnesota outlet reports:
So, both have good teeth. Beyond that, one is believed by Crabgrass to be a Somali-American, and the other Jewish. No reporting found by Crabgrass really fleshes out ethnicity, so we guess.
Alpha news has more interesting reporting:
“I am incredibly honored to be the DFL endorsed candidate for Minneapolis Mayor. This endorsement is a message that Minneapolis residents are done with broken promises, vetoes, and politics as usual. It’s a mandate to build a city that works for all of us,” said Fateh, a democratic socialist who is serving his second term in the Minnesota Senate.
The 35-year-old has been described as the “Minneapolis Mamdani,” a reference to Zohran Mamdani, a socialist who won a stunning victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City earlier this year.
After Mamdani’s victory in June, the Minneapolis chapter of the DSA declared Fateh’s mayoral run to be the next battlefront in advancing their socialist agenda.
Fateh’s record includes an unsuccessful bill to make Minnesota a “sanctuary state” for illegal immigrants and support for a 2021 charter amendment to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new “department of public safety.”
Frey campaign describes convention as ‘extremely flawed’
Frey’s campaign released a statement describing the Minneapolis DFL’s convention as “extremely flawed and irregular.”
“This election should be decided by the entire city rather than the small group of people who became delegates, particularly in light of the extremely flawed and irregular conduct of this convention,” said campaign manager Sam Schulenberg. “Voters will now have a clear choice between the records and leadership of Sen. Fateh and Mayor Frey. We look forward to taking our vision to the voters in November.”
One convention attendee, Will Stancil, elaborated on Schulenberg’s comments, writing on X: “The issue is that the convention rolled out an electronic voting system that seemed to break. No one is sure but many voters were not receiving confirmation emails their votes were recorded.”
[...]
After leading in the first round of electronic voting, Fateh ultimately received the endorsement in a process that involved delegates raising their badges for their preferred candidate. Video shows very few delegates raising their badges for Frey because, according to Wedge Live, his campaign “tried to deny quorum by pulling their people off the floor.”
[...]
The Frey campaign told Axios that they plan to challenge Fateh’s endorsement to the state party.
[links in original, to tweets, not publications] Tweets omitted, Another published report:
https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/minneapolis-dfl-considers-5-nominations-for-mayoral-race-endorsement/ --- stating in part:
Sen. Fateh received a video-recorded endorsement from fellow state Sen. John Hoffman, who has been recovering at a rehabilitation center after he was shot in June during a targeted attack.
Residents supporting Fateh praised him as a backer of union workers and humane homeless response policies.
An endorsement of Fateh, who is running as a Democratic Socialist, would create a unique moment for the city’s DFL Party, possibly signaling a further shift for the party.
“People are starting to accept, you know, some more socialist and more, you know, to the left politics, which, in my view, is a good thing. It’s a progressive thing,” said Colton Baldus, a delegate in support of Fateh.
“It means that we’re starting to, I don’t know, put our weight in, and become more and more, you know, worker-centered in our politics, and I think that’s a very good thing.”
Two-term Mayor Frey was backed on stage by Red Lake Nation Secretary Sam Strong and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt. Supporters of the mayor referred to him as the more moderate candidate.
Matt Saxe, a delegate supporting his reelection, said he considers the mayor “progressive on economics.”
“He understands that people are getting squeezed in this city, and that is one of the things he’s focusing on. I think he’s been doing a good job so far, and the idea is to keep down property taxes and not fall into this repressive taxation the Trump administration is trying to foist on the entire country,” Saxe said.
Delegate Saxe, you're entitled to your opinion, wrong as it is. That being the Crabgrass opinion.
The Hoffman endorsement is important because he and spouse survived the Boelter shooting which took the lives of Melissa Hortman and Mark Hortman, DFL legislators.
A breath of fresh air hurts nobody, again a Crabgrass opinion. Frey is stale. A drag upon more progressive city council member policy choices.
_______________UPDATE_______________
NYPost reports, getting ethnic about Fetah being a Somali - American Muslim socialist, while acting as if Frey's ethnicity and political biases are irrelevant. It is information as to both. But NYPost is a Murdoch outlet, so don't expect fair and balanced reporting (a slogan never really met by the Murdochs).
NYP published this image of Fetah with a handful of supporters. Diverse, yes, but more important, young. As in those facing the future on a longer time scale than the old guard. Young and more restive. Crabgrass is a bit akin, being old and restive in the same policy directions.
Wyden says that, more or less:
Epstein case: 'Follow the money' in Treasury Department's files, Sen. Wyden urges
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'Follow the money': Senator describes what he saw in Epstein's bank records
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Sen. Wyden presses DOJ to release Epstein bank reports to Congress
--- and as a bonus
Maurene Comey warns her former colleagues: ‘Fear is the tool of the tyrant’
One supposes Ms. Comey has some particular tyrant in mind, while it's hard to miss what Sen. Wyden has in mind as his route to our understanding things better.
All for now, but the Congressional majorities are at play while Epstein distracts attention. DC per usual. Without lazy reporters told what is news and being obedient trained dogs, what might differ?
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Methinks Mossad and others doth protest too much. Who else may have funded Epstein? The Iranians? Have the Iranians any alleged frequent Epstein visitor known to the public? Is it relevant that Ms G. Maxwell's father, Robert, a British publisher, per this 1991 JTA coverage had an Israeli state funeral with the highest of praise?Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett denies conspiracy theories linking Jeffrey Epstein to Mossad
President Chaim Herzog and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir headed a galaxy of dignitaries and politicians, both government and opposition, who attended the funeral.
Herzog delivered the eulogy for the multimillionaire publisher, whose holdings in Israel. including Ma’ariv, are estimated at $300 million.
” He scaled the heights of human endeavor. Kings and princes waited on him. Many admired him. Many disliked him. But none was indifferent to him,” Herzog said.
And this is about as reliable as Kash and Pam's changing story. But hear the woman out, anyway. With due skepticism, of course. What's expected, with this pending? Not that it's a thumb on the scale, Bondi's DOJ being the putative "adversary" in the Maxwell petition for Supreme Court relief. Filing the opposing brief, posing oral argument, etc.
Where there's smoke, etc., is an old adage for a reason. Generally true. Frequently enough.
And Trump wants to move on to something else, say perhaps, flooding down in Texas.
So, let's have hearings seems a House mantra whenever hearings could help, or cast shame.
____________FURTHER UPDATE______________
If not the Israelis, then the Russians? Rudy's Ukranians? Our spooks, CIA, DIA or others?
