Tag: corruption

The Justice Department’s shameful record in the Epstein scandal

More than 30 years have passed since the first public allegation that Jeffrey Epstein assaulted and trafficked children and young women for sex. A civil complaint said he repeatedly abused a 13-year-old girl beginning in 1994.

Five presidential administrations later, Epstein’s victims include more than 1,000 women, many of them children when he and his accused companions abused them. Yet, largely due to repeated failures by the Justice Department, most perpetrators remain unidentified and unpunished. The nation’s highest law enforcement agency has prolonged the victims’ abuse by denying them justice. 

The department’s failures continue today. It can no longer be trusted to deliver justice “without fear or favor.” Congress must intervene more decisively. A brief history will explain why. 

In 1996, Maria Farmer told the FBI that Epstein had assaulted her and her minor sister. The bureau took no visible action.

In 2008, Epstein faced a possible life sentence for 32 counts alleging that at least 40 underage girls were brought to his Palm Beach mansion for sex. Prosecutors said many victims were willing to testify but never had the opportunity. The case did not go to trial because U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta secretly crafted a deal allowing Epstein to plead guilty to two lesser charges.

Epstein served only 13 months in a Florida jail. He was given unusual privileges, including work  release for 12 hours a day, six days a week. Investigators said he regularly violated the rules of the work-release program without punishment. In addition, the deal included a controversial non-prosecution agreement that gave Epstein and his co-conspirators immunity from further state or federal prosecution for those crimes. 

In 2017, Trump appointed Acosta as secretary of Labor. He resigned in 2019 over the plea bargain controversy. In 2020, the Justice Department reviewed the plea bargain and concluded that Acosta used poor judgment but did nothing improper.

In 2019, Epstein was arrested and jailed on new sex trafficking charges. While awaiting trial, he was found dead in his cell. Despite protocol violations and missing security footage at the jail, the Justice Department ruled that Epstein had committed suicide.  

The latest controversy involves 6 million Justice Department documents related to the Epstein case. Although evidence and Epstein’s victims allege his involvement in an international sex trafficking operation, the FBI and Justice Department issued a memo last July saying that they planned no further charges and no further information on their investigations of Epstein. 

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UK royals not ‘above the law’ – chief prosecutor 

Members of Britain’s royal family are not above the law, the country’s top prosecutor said on Sunday, as police investigate former Prince Andrew over allegations he leaked information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.  

Thames Valley Police said last week it was in discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service over allegations of misconduct in public office against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of King Charles III.   

“Nobody is above the law,” Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson told the Sunday Times. The prosecutor added he had “total confidence” that police would act independently and dismissed suggestions that the monarchy would receive special treatment.

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French police raid Arab World Institute in Paris as Epstein fallout widens

French police searched the Arab World Institute in Paris on Monday as part of a probe into its former head, ex-culture minister Jack Lang, and his links to late convicted U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, prosecutors said.

France’s National Financial Prosecutor (PNF) said in a statement that the Arab World Institute was among several locations being raided.

Prosecutors this month opened a preliminary investigation of Lang and his daughter Caroline on suspicion of tax fraud following the release of documents on Epstein in the U.S.

Lang, who was culture minister under late Socialist president Francois Mitterrand, resigned this month from the Arab World Institute, which he had led since 2013.

He has said he was unaware of Epstein’s crimes despite corresponding with him between 2012 and 2019, 11 years after the financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. Epstein died in prison by suicide in 2019.

The Institute, which is overseen by France’s foreign ministry, said it could not immediately comment on the police action.

Both Jack and Caroline Lang have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and receiving financial benefits from Epstein. Their lawyer Laurent Merlet told French broadcaster BFMTV this month that “there was no movement of funds”.

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US Lawmakers Shmooze with Zelensky at Munich Security Conference – After Voting for Partial Shutdown of DHS at Home

Democrats voted this past week for a partial shutdown of government. The open-borders party refused to fund DHS. After the announcement was made several of these lawmakers, Republican and Democrat, took a plane to the annual Munich Security Conference.

So, the lawmakers can’t agree to fund DHS and our borders, but they had time to travel to Munich for the annual security conference.

If these men and women really wanted security they would have funded our Department of Homeland Security.

During their trip to Munich several US politicians met with Volodymyr Zelensky. He attended the conference to beg for more cash to fight his losing war against Russia.

Of course, Lindsey Graham was right in the mix. There’s no way he was going to miss out on some good war talk.

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So, Is That Why the Washington Post Isn’t Covering DC’s Raw Sewage Nightmare?

It’s a total s**t show in Washington, DC. For those not following, four weeks ago, an underground sewage line failed, and the Potomac, which is already disgusting, has been flooded with hundreds of millions of gallons of human waste. If it hasn’t taken the title, it will soon for being the worst wastewater spill in US history. 

To boot, it won’t be fixed for another 10 months. It should be covered, in The Washington Post of all places, but it isn’t. Maybe that’s because there’s a Joe Biden connection: the CEO and general manager of DC Water is David L. Gadis, who the former braindead president picked to serve on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council to “serve with distinction as the sole expert on the Council from the wastewater utilities sector” in 2022.

DC Water says the underground sewer line that burst and began spewing wastewater into the Potomac River four weeks ago could take another 10 months to repair. 

Although DC Water crews continue to successfully divert the majority of the sewage away from the river, officials say more than 240 million gallons of sewage has made its way into the Potomac. 

In the latest spillover, a mass of flushed wipes clogged the utility company’s temporary pumps, releasing an additional 600,000 gallons of sewage water into the Potomac. 

“The risk of flow entering the Potomac River exists until we can get the flow back into the Potomac Interceptor. Right now, it’s bypassed through the C&O Canal and then routed back into the Potomac Interceptor,” DC Water COO Matthew Brown said. 

“And so that is our goal. That is what we are working towards. And there are people on site 24 hours a day working to make this happen,” he said. 

Brown is the first high-level DC Water official to have spoken publicly about the incident. 

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Investigation into Democrat Ilhan Omar’s Husband May Reach to Somalia, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) wants officials to look abroad regarding Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) husband, Tim Mynett, and his failed business ventures.

Comer wants the House Ethics Committee investigation to look at countries such as Somalia, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the New York Post reported Saturday.

The news comes after Omar’s net worth increased from $51,000 to $30 million in one year with the surge of wealth linked to two of Mynett’s businesses. However, Omar has said people were falsely claiming she was worth millions and pointed the finger at conservatives who she said were unfairly targeting her, per Breitbart News.

According to the Post, “Mynett’s investment firm Rose Lake Capital wanted to build solar panels in Africa and his main business partner received a $10,699 air ticket to Dubai after talks about a deal there.”

The outlet continued:

Comer’s committee initially spearheaded the probe and in a Feb. 5 letter to Mynett, demanded he turn over “all documents and communications” by anyone affiliated with either Rose Lake Capital LLC or his failed California winery eStCru LLC related to travel “to the United Arab Emirates, Somalia or Kenya, or travel undertaken to solicit business connected to those countries. This includes the dates of travel, the individuals who traveled, and the stated purpose of each trip.”

The deadline for Mynett to respond is Thursday.

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Michigan Lt. Gov. Gilchrist Missed about 94% of Senate Sessions He Was Supposed to Attend

Democratic Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, who recently dropped out of the governor’s race to run for secretary of state, skipped about 94 percent of the Michigan Senate sessions over which he had the responsibility to serve as president, the Detroit News reports.

Craig Mauger, the Detroit News Lansing reporter, writes:

Gilchrist’s habitual absences in the Senate break with a longtime tradition in Michigan, where lieutenant governors usually have presided over the Senate session on a daily basis. They have raised questions about what tasks he’s chosen to take on instead, as he earns an annual taxpayer-funded salary of about $111,000.

Across three lieutenant governors over the last 20 years, Gilchrist has posted the two lowest annual attendance percentages compared with the number of days when senators were asked to be in Lansing. The Detroit Democrat led the Senate for 6% of the days senators were there in 2025 and 39% of the days in 2024, a Detroit News analysis shows.

A spokesman for Gilchrist declined to comment to The News.

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BOMBSHELL: Pam Bondi Announces ALL Epstein-Related Materials Released — Pelosi, Obama, Newsom, Biden and Other Democrats Named in Files — HERE IS the Complete List of 300+ Individuals

Attorney General Pam Bondi has officially transmitted to Congress the Department of Justice’s Section 3 report under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, confirming that the DOJ has now released ALL Epstein-related materials in its possession.

The February 14, 2026, report — addressed to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member Dick Durbin, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin — confirms that the Department has released all the files.

“In accordance with the requirements of the Act, and as described in various Department submissions to the courts of the Southern District of New York assigned to the Epstein and Maxwell prosecutions and related orders, the Department released all ‘records, documents, communications and investigative materials in the possession of the Department’ that ‘relate to’ any of nine different categories,” the letter read.

The Department released materials tied to the following nine categories:

  1. Jeffrey Epstein — all investigations, prosecutions, and custodial matters
  2. Ghislaine Maxwell
  3. Flight logs and travel records — aircraft manifests, itineraries, customs records, vessels, vehicles used by Epstein or related entities
  4. Individuals named in connection with Epstein’s criminal activity, civil settlements, immunity deals, plea agreements, or investigations
  5. Entities (corporate, nonprofit, academic, governmental) tied to Epstein’s trafficking or financial networks
  6. Immunity deals, non-prosecution agreements, plea bargains, sealed agreements involving Epstein or associates
  7. Internal DOJ communications regarding decisions to charge or decline prosecution
  8. Communications regarding destruction, deletion, or concealment of evidence
  9. Documentation of Epstein’s detention and death, including incident reports, witness interviews, autopsy files

The DOJ stated:

“No records were withheld or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”

The only materials withheld were those protected by traditional legal privileges such as attorney-client or deliberative-process privilege.

Bondi’s letter also details the redaction process. According to the report, redactions were limited to:

  • Victim personal and medical information
  • Child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
  • Information that could jeopardize active investigations
  • Graphic images of death or abuse

No classification-based redactions were used.

Unredacted versions are available for congressional inspection at the DOJ.

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Judge Weighs Whether To Block Vaccines Changes From CDC, RFK Jr.

A federal judge weighing whether to block changes to U.S. vaccine guidance and an advisory panel did not immediately rule Feb. 13 after hearing from attorneys representing medical groups and the government.

Lawyers for the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and other groups told U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Boston that recent changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine schedule and the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel violate federal law and will reduce vaccination rates.

“This is a clear and present danger to public health,” said James Oh, a lawyer for the groups.

Oh said the schedule update, which removed the broad recommendation for six childhood vaccines for diseases including rotavirus, influenza and hepatitis A, “set off alarms” in the medical community and occurred without any rational explanation from the agency.

The CDC on Jan. 5, with backing from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., narrowed the number of vaccines routinely recommended by the childhood schedule.

Government officials said in filings that the the reasoning behind the change was in part due to an assessment carried out by senior health officials that analyzed the U.S. childhood schedule against schedules from other countries.

“The U.S. is a global outlier among peer nations in the number of target diseases included in its childhood vaccination schedule and in the total number of recommended vaccine doses,” the officials, Drs. Tracy Beth Hoeg and Martin Kulldorff, concluded.

The plaintiffs, which also include several women who say changes under Kennedy have prevented them from receiving vaccines, are challenging a series of actions. They focused on arguments for and against imposing an injunction blocking that update and the health secretary’s remaking of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee.

Oh said that the committee is not fairly balanced because it is dominated by people who oppose vaccines, in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and urged Murphy to block the committee’s upcoming Feb. 26–27 meeting.

Government lawyers said in a recent brief that the advisory committee members have a variety of employment histories and that the accusation they are anti-vaccine “does not accurately represent the members’ complex and nuanced perspectives and their committee voting records.”

Murphy asked during the hearing whether he could consider the “broader public health impacts” of the changes in vaccine recommendations while weighing the case.

Department of Justice lawyer Isaac Belfer told him health officials were not pursuing an anti-vaccine agenda and welcomed “spirited debate about vaccine policy.”

But he said the Department of Health and Human Services had broad authority to change policy to address a decline in public trust in vaccines following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The court cannot substitute its judgment in place of the agency,” Belfer said.

Murphy did not immediately rule.

With the meeting upcoming, he said he “must make a decision in this case on an uncomfortably tight timeline.”

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Minnesota Sheriff Whose Office Missed Billions in Fraud Now Attacks ICE

On Friday morning, Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt stood before reporters and expressed relief that “Operation Metro Surge” was coming to an end. 

She spoke about rebuilding trust and emphasized that her office does not conduct civil immigration enforcement, adding that “nothing has changed” in the county’s policies.

The speech was among the most inflammatory anti-ICE remarks she could have delivered. Operation Metro Surge was a federal enforcement effort launched under the direction of the Trump administration’s border team, including Border Czar Tom Homan, in response to escalating tensions and public safety concerns in Minneapolis and surrounding areas. 

The purpose was straightforward: enforce existing federal immigration law and prevent further instability. When violence threatens to spiral out of control, federal authorities have both the power and the obligation to intervene.

Instead of acknowledging that reality, Sheriff Witt framed the operation primarily as a political burden placed on her office. She spoke at length about strained relationships and eroding trust, suggesting that local law enforcement had been forced into difficult positions by federal action.

What she did not do was thank federal officers for stepping in during a volatile moment. She did not acknowledge that ICE enforces statutes written by Congress. She did not recognize that immigration enforcement is a lawful function of the executive branch, not an optional courtesy.

Minnesota has spent the past several years confronting overlapping crises of disorder and fraud. The Feeding Our Future scandal alone involved what federal prosecutors described as a $250 million scheme to exploit taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs. 

Additional investigations into Medicaid and autism services fraud revealed systemic vulnerabilities that drained public funds of well over $8 billion and embarrassed state leadership. 

These were large-scale criminal operations that flourished under the watch of state and local authorities.

Public safety is not limited to street patrols. It includes institutional competence and, above all, requires proactive enforcement and coordination across agencies. 

Yet at the very moment federal officers increased their presence to deter violence and enforce immigration law, the sheriff’s message signaled distance, not partnership.

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