The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal, Aaron Mate and Anya Parampil discuss Trump's furious reaction against some of his own supporters for demanding that he release the so-called Epstein Files. Does Trump have something to hide?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzQttX-dvL8

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

What’s Going On In the “Honeypot?”
Will Jeffrey Epstein ever go away?
PHILIP GIRALDI

What goes on in Washington is underappreciated for those of us who like a bit of humor mixed in with our politics. This past week we have been treated to a whole series of malapropisms coming out of the mouth of President Donald Trump, including the questioning of the president of Liberia Joseph Boakai by Trump over how he speaks such excellent English. “Such good English,” Trump said. “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? In Liberia? That’s very interesting. Where were you educated? Where? In Liberia? Well, that’s very interesting. It’s beautiful English. I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.” Trump presumably was not briefed on the fact that Liberia was founded by the United States to give a home to freed African-American slaves in the early 1800s and became a nation in 1847. English is its official language.

But far better than that brief interlude has been the week-long battle over releasing the “client lists” and other documents and material ostensibly relating to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Epstein became an extremely wealthy man with luxury homes in New York City and Palm Beach as well as a ranch in New Mexico and the private Epstein Island in the US Virgin Islands, which can reached only by boat. All his other properties were connected by virtue of his private jetliner the “Lolita Express.” Insofar as can be determined, though not actually demonstrated given the lack of documentation, Epstein may have made his millions through exploitation of pedophilia, recruiting underage girls to submit to rape to sexually service his wealthy male clients, who might then have been blackmailed.

Compilations of some publicly available court records reveal that Epstein entertained at least twenty-one billionaires, as well as leading political figures like Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, and also four former Israeli prime ministers. Clinton allegedly flew on the “Lolita Express” twenty-six times. And there were many celebrities like Prince Andrew and Robert Kraft. There is also a surprising number of Silicon Valley personalities including Bill Gates and Sergey Brin. Epstein also was a great pal of Donald Trump during their younger days when Trump was at Mar a Lago and Epstein had a waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, with Trump describing Epstein as his “best friend.” Epstein was eventually arrested on sex trafficking of minors charges and died in a New York City jail in August 2019 in what has been described by police and the White House as a suicide but which many believe to have been murder by the government to silence him.

One of the great mysteries of Epstein is how he made his vast fortune. Was he blackmailing his “clients” while having sex with the underaged women using films made from concealed video cameras in his various residences? Or was there something more sinister, like an intelligence connection with the Israeli Mossad or the CIA? There were some clear connections with Israel with the four former Israeli prime ministers having visited him at his mansion in New York City. A number of his billionaire friends were Jews with close connections to the Israeli government and Epstein’s girlfriend (and procurer) was Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of a prominent Israeli spy, Robert Maxwell. But the suggestion of an intelligence connection would require answers to two questions: first, what kind of information could he have hoped to obtain from his clients? And two, who would be willing to pay large sums of money for whatever information he would acquire from old men sleeping with 13 year old girls?

Drawing of my own experiences as a CIA officer in Europe during the seventies and eighties, operations using women to entice prominent men were called “honeypots” or “honeytraps.” They were only used in certain geographic areas where there were foreign diplomats from countries that were considered not friendly and therefore targets for recruitment. As I recall Vienna was particularly favored as it had numerous Russians and Eastern Europeans resident in the city during the Cold War doing jobs that linked them to their respective governments. The objective was to draw them into an illicit relationship and eventually convince them, usually by offering them money, to share the information they had about the intentions of their governments lest they be exposed for their private behavior.

As it seems unlikely that Epstein was engaged in out-and-out blackmail, perhaps the answers to those questions about what he was up to are among the many records detailing Epstein’s associates and his contacts. Trump the presidential candidate promised to make public the thousands of documents, videos and photos that were found in a safe in his New York City. If the records are ever made public, they might confirm that Epstein was indeed working for Israel, which I believe to be the case, and that would have provided motive to silence him. Imagine, for example, if it were to be confirmed that Epstein and his contacts were part of some massive spying/influencing operation directed against the US government and the American people? That would not go down well, particularly as it is well known inside counterintelligence circles in Washington that Israel is undoubtedly the most active foreign government in spying on the US and interfering in American government policies, witness only for example what it taking place in the Middle East currently with Donald Trump dancing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s tune. And there is a precedent in large scale spying by the Jewish state in the so-called “art students” selling cosmetics at American malls before 9/11.

In any event, Donald Trump became president based on his promises to end wars and challenge the deep state by exposing the documents and stories behind Epstein, JFK, RFK and 9/11. He has, unfortunately, reneged on those promises though he has now kicked the ball down the court by ordering his Attorney General Pam Bondi to go through the Epstein material and release whatever is “credible.” If, as I suspect, Trump is trying the suppress the material revealing his closeness to Epstein, she will be loyal to her boss, find little of interest and, in particular, nothing that is incriminating in terms of the president.

Nor is Pam Bondi likely to confirm evidence of Israel’s possible spying through creation of some kind of cooperative arrangement with a large group of elite Americans who have been blackmailed. One should take note that Trump indicated initially that he would not pursue the Epstein issue just after Benjamin Netanyahu had three meetings with him during a visit that was sought by the Israeli prime minister and there was uncharacteristically no press conference afterwards to describe what was discussed. Netanyahu is known to be in political trouble in Israel due to his corruption trial and a rift with the United States at this time would be far from welcome for his supporters back at home. By that thinking, Netanyahu may have appeared in Washington to add Israel’s voice to that of the ruling deep state that release of Epstein information is a no-no. If the Epstein files were to be released, then all the effort put into collecting blackmail capability over what might be regarded as the American ruling class would be wasted. If the files are released and the information is public, the possible blackmail information, if it exists, would be mostly useless. And, more importantly, the American public would learn that Israel is seeking to blackmail the American elite to serve Israel’s, not America’s, interest.

To conclude where this article began with the impulsive belligerency and tone deafness of the current administration, President Donald Trump doesn’t want the support of any MAGA members who demand the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and he is prepared to tell them so to their faces. That is the message he sent out in a Wednesday morning social-media diatribe followed by comments made later at the White House. Trump condemned his “PAST” supporters of buying into “bullshit.” Then he broke with them completely, saying: “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!” He doubled down later in the day, again referring to those demanding more information as “stupid people” doing the Democrats’ work, words that he might very well live to regret!

https://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/whats-going-on-in-the-honeypot/

READ FROM TOP.

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhO3eMpOdaw

READ FROM TOP.

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951

SEE ALSO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuWb3Zmd480

More bad news for Trump and his ill-advised Miami Federal defamation lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal for billions of dollars—the presiding judge has been assigned and it is Judge Daryn Gayles, the same judge that handled Trump’s losing case against Michael Cohen. Michael Popok who knows Judge Gayles well, explains Gayles’ court room process that could end in Trump dismissing the case before it goes much further.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPO3-T8EGUc

READ FROM TOP.

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

BY STEVEN HARPER

Why now? It was either pandering to Trump, management’s incompetence, or both.

Timing is everything.

The news that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will end in May 2026 has focused on whether his termination was part of a “deal” (implicit or explicit) to get Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval of the pending merger between CBS’ parent company Paramount and Skydance Media. If so, it was another “bend-the-knee” moment in the media’s ongoing capitulation to U.S. President Donald Trump’s attack on democracy’s foundational institutions.

But the timing of the announcement itself is raises a critical unanswered question: Why now? It was either pandering to Trump, management’s incompetence, or both.

The cast of characters

Skydance’s  owner David Ellison is the son of Oracle’s billionaire founder Larry Ellison, Trump’s friend and supporter.

Through her family’s holding company National Amusements, Sheri Redstone owns a controlling interest in Paramount and is a member of its board of directors.

If the FCC approves the Skydance-Paramount merger announced in July 2024, Skydance  will pay National Amusements $2.4 billion.

Comic Stephen Colbert has become one of Trump’s fiercest TV critics. Beginning in 2016 and continuing for  nine consecutive seasons, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has been the highest-rated program in its time slot.

The timeline

• In September 2024, Trump  urged CBS to fire Colbert.

• Days before the 2024 election, Trump filed a  frivolous lawsuit accusing CBS of bias in broadcasting a “60 Minutes” interview of then-Vice President  Kamala Harris. The complaint alleged that the edited interview and associated programming were “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference” intended to “mislead the public and attempt to tip the scales” in Harris’ favor.

• Prominent First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams said that “the First Amendment was drafted to protect the press from just such litigation.” Harvard Law School Professor Rebecca Tushnet called it “ridiculous junk and should be mocked.” Attorney Charles Tobin warned, “This is a frivolous and dangerous attempt by a politician to control the news media.”

• February 6, 2025: Redstone told the Paramount board that she wanted to settle Trump’s lawsuit.

• April 13: Trump  said that CBS “should lose their license” and he  hoped that his appointed FCC chair Brendan Carr “will impose the maximum fine and punishment.”

• April 22: The producer of “60 Minutes”—a 30-year veteran of _CBS—_ resigned with this warning: “[O]ver the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for “60 Minutes,” right for the audience.”

• April 27: “60 Minutes” co-anchor Scott Pelley praised Owens and  offered an unprecedented on-air rebuke of Paramount: “Stories we’ve pursued for 57 years are often controversial—lately, the Israel-Gaza war and the Trump administration. Bill made sure they were accurate and fair—he was tough that way. But our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”

• May 4: “60 Minutes”  aired a segment quoting prominent attorneys criticising Trump for unlawfully targeting Big Law firms. In response, Trump threatened to sue CBS for defamation again, but he never did.

• July 1: CBS  settled Trump’s frivolous “60 Minutes” lawsuit regarding the Harris interview by contributing $16 million toward Trump’s future presidential library.

• July 14: In Colbert’s first appearance after a two-week vacation, he returned to “The Late Show” and  joked that Paramount’s settlement with Trump was “a big fat bribe.”

• July 15: Skydance’s David Ellison was in Washington to  meet with FCC chairman Carr and other FCC officials. Later the company said that Ellison “discussed Skydance’s commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS’ editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.”

• July 17: During the taping of “The Late Show,” Colbert  informed his audience that CBS had informed him the prior evening that he and his program had been terminated, effective May 2026.

• July 18: Trump  wrote on Truth Social: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings…”

The other possibility: mismanagement

Already swirling in controversy over the departure of “60 Minutes” producer and settling the Trump case, Paramount and CBS anticipated the outrage and skepticism that terminating Colbert and “The Late Show” would generate. Contemporaneously with Colbert’s firing, George Cheeks (co-CEO of Paramount Global and president and CEO of CBS), Amy Reisenbach (president of CBS Entertainment), and David Stapf (president of CBS Studios) issued a  statement declaring: “This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.”

Following the announcement, “leaked”  reports from anonymous CBS sources and “ sources close to the network” suggested that “The Late Show” was losing millions of dollars yearly.

Maybe it was. But that argument proves too much.

“[T]wo people familiar with the show’s finances”  told The New York Times anonymously that the show “was racking up losses of tens of millions of dollars a year.” If true, the losses weren’t a new problem. And there’s no evidence that CBS gave Colbert, who produces the top-rated show, an opportunity to explore less expensive production possibilities.

So why announce cancellation of the program 10 months before it would leave the air in mid-2026?

It’s possible—but unlikely—that Colbert’s contract required 10-months’ advance notice of termination. But if so, CBS’ failure to include such context to blunt the otherwise apparent connection to the merger was a profound management failure.

On the other hand, if Colbert’s contract did not require 10 months advance notice prior to termination_,_ the announcement was either: 1) one more effort to grease the Paramount-Skydance merger skids by “bending the knee” to Trump; or 2) a different management failure that intensified the preexisting cloud over CBS’ integrity.

Either way, Paramount and CBS owe shareholders and viewers an answer to a simple question: Why now?

Their first press release was an exercise in obfuscation.

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/stephen-colbert-firing-timing

IS SUCH AN EXTENDED "LEEWAY TO EXTINCTION" GIVEN IN ORDER FOR THE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT TO MIGRATE TO ANOTHER NETWORK AND ONLINE LIKE GUTFELD?

READ FROM TOP.

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

SEE ALSO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eos8DeCCUY4