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 Julia Ornedo / The Daily Beast:
Trump Gets Called Hitler on First Ever D.C. Restaurant Trip — NAZI SURPRISE — The president wanted to make a point about safety on D.C. streets. — President Donald Trump got an icy reception after stepping out onto the streets of Washington, D.C. Tuesday night to eat at a local establishment for the first time ever.
2025-09-10 13:05:00 UTC
The Daily Beast
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Trump greets Roberts at the US Capitol on March 4, 2025. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images When it comes to how the framers structured the Constitution, federal judges – especially Supreme Court justices – are an inherent danger to democracy. That’s because, unlike presidents and members of Congress, they are unelected. Their personal predilections have profound effects on the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans, yet voters cannot choose them at the polls. Nor can they fire them at the ballot box. Unless they’re impeached, which is nearly impossible to pull off, federal judges keep their jobs for life – even if they issue rulings that seem to violate the Constitution itself. Which over and over again appears to be what’s happening with the far-right justices these days, half of whom were hand-picked by Donald Trump personally. Subscribe now The latest shocker came down on Monday, in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo – an unexplained 6-3 decision that halted a lower court’s injunction staying the Trump administration from picking up people from the streets of Los Angeles based solely on some combination of four factors, including their ethnicity, use of English, or type of work. What the Trump administration is doing looks a lot like racial profiling, which, in 2023, the same majority went out of its way to outright ban in college admissions. The Court nonetheless held that to pause this practice for ICE agents would irreparably harm Trump to the point where he is entitled to an emergency order overriding the lower court’s order that immigration authorities temporarily stop doing this until the legality of the policy is sorted out. Vasquez Perdomo implicates the Fourth Amendment, not necessarily the Fourteenth, but the point is obvious: racial discrimination looks like a one-way ratchet from the perspective of the justices in the majority. ‘Emergency’ Rulings: The Court’s Gift to TrumpMonday’s decision was roughly the 20th “emergency” ruling that this Court has issued to greenlight Trump’s spree of lawlessness since taking office again on Jan. 20.
Read more
2025-09-10 13:02:38 UTC
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New York Times:
NATO Says It Scrambled Fighter Jets to Shoot Down Russian Drones Over Poland — The incursion was the first time alliance planes had engaged enemy targets in NATO airspace. Poland's leader called it “a large-scale provocation.” — More than a dozen Russian drones entered Poland overnight …
2025-09-10 13:00:42 UTC
New York Times
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Qasim Nauman / New York Times:
Poland Says It Shot Down Russian Drones That Entered Its Airspace — The Polish military called the incursions an “act of aggression.” It said the drones crossed the border during a wave of Russian strikes in Ukraine. — Poland said on Wednesday that it had shot down Russian drones …
2025-09-10 13:00:42 UTC
New York Times
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Kamala Harris / The Atlantic:
The Constant Battle — The first excerpt from 107 Days … The first stop on the day's calendar had been planned months earlier. At a meeting in the Oval Office discussing her work uplifting Black executives and entrepreneurs, Dr. Stacie NC Grant had invited me to address the annual gathering …
2025-09-10 12:30:01 UTC
The Atlantic
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Politico:
Democratic governors build vaccine firewall against RFK Jr. … “We're ... creating a public health infrastructure that used to exist under the federal government, but with RFK, Jr. at the helm, has been completely disrupted and dismantled,” Healey told reporters Monday at the state Capitol.
2025-09-10 12:00:04 UTC
Politico
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BBC:
Anti-Islamic US biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites — The firm guarding sites where aid is distributed in Gaza has been using members of a US biker gang with a history of hostility to Islam to run its armed security, a BBC investigation has found.
2025-09-10 11:25:00 UTC
BBC
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Mark A. Welsh III / president.tamu.edu:
GENERAL (RET.) MARK A. WELSH III — I am reaching out today to follow up on a statement I distributed through social media yesterday regarding an ongoing issue with one of our 16,000 course sections. I directed the Provost to remove the College of Arts and Sciences Dean and English Department Head from their administrative positions.
2025-09-10 06:30:00 UTC
president.tamu.edu
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Andrew Howard / Politico:
Democrats add 1 more vote in Congress after Virginia special election — Democratic Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw defeated Republican Stewart Whitson easily on Tuesday, with the Associated Press calling the race at 7:36 p.m. Eastern time. The race for the seat …
2025-09-10 06:25:01 UTC
Politico
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Barak Ravid / Axios:
Israel's attack in Qatar infuriated Trump advisers, officials say — On Tuesday morning, the U.S. military spotted Israeli jets flying east toward the Gulf. The U.S. sought clarification, but by the time Israel provided it missiles were already in the air, three U.S. officials say.
2025-09-10 05:05:00 UTC
Axios
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Charlie Warzel / The Atlantic:
You Really Need to See Epstein's Birthday Book for Yourself — This time, the conspiracy theorists were right. — Looking back, I don't know what exactly I was expecting when I opened “Request No. 1,” the PDF file containing the contents of Jeffrey Epstein's 50th-birthday book.
2025-09-10 03:35:00 UTC
The Atlantic
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CNN:
Poland says it has shot down drones that entered its airspace during Russian attack on Ukraine — Poland's military said early Wednesday that it had shot down drones that violated its airspace during a Russian attack on neighboring Ukraine, in what is potentially a major provocation for Europe.
2025-09-10 02:40:00 UTC
CNN
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Steve Kopack / NBC News:
Judge temporarily blocks Trump's firing of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook — The ruling means Cook will remain on the board of the central bank until her case is heard at length. — A federal judge on Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump's firing …
2025-09-10 02:25:00 UTC
NBC News
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Ramon Antonio Vargas / The Guardian:
Photo of novelty check suggests Epstein ‘sold’ Trump a woman for $22,500 — Convicted sex offender appears in birthday scrapbook photo with giant check signed by ‘DJ Trump’ — A scrapbook for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday released on Monday contains a photo of him holding …
2025-09-10 02:20:00 UTC
The Guardian
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Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and challenger Josh Kraft advance to one-on-one general election — The incumbent and her Democratic challenger finished first and second in Tuesday's primary election, NBC News projects. — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and challenger Josh Kraft will move …
2025-09-10 01:00:05 UTC
NBC News
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Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Donald ❤️ Jeffrey — Caution: I'm going to avoid euphemism and reproduce images from the Epstein birthday book because I want everyone to see Jeffrey Epstein through the eyes of the people who knew him best. — Also: You're getting a bonus Secret pod today. Probably around 1:30.
2025-09-10 00:55:00 UTC
The Bulwark
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Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Democrats Narrow Gap in House After Victory in Virginia Special Election — James Walkinshaw will fill a seat left open by the death of his former boss, Gerald Connolly, and shrink the Republicans' majority in the chamber. — A Northern Virginia Democrat coasted to victory in a special election …
2025-09-10 00:35:00 UTC
New York Times
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Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
The Government Wants to See Your Papers — And the Supreme Court decides that the Fourth Amendment might not be for everyone. … This kind of behavior by government officials is now legal in the United States. — Yesterday, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court allowed ICE officials …
2025-09-10 00:35:00 UTC
The Atlantic
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President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
Memorandum for the Secretary of Health and Human Services the Commissioner of Food and Drugs — In 1962, the Congress vested the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the authority to regulate prescription drug advertising. These advertisements can mislead the public about the risks and benefits …
2025-09-10 00:10:00 UTC
The White House
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Associated Press:
Man faces federal charge in killing of Ukrainian woman on Charlotte train — The Justice Department on Tuesday charged a man accused of fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train last month with a federal crime that could carry the death penalty.
2025-09-09 23:30:00 UTC
Associated Press
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Anthony L. Fisher / MSNBC:
Trump is taking America down a slippery slope where the military can kill anyone — The president ordered the killings of suspected drug smugglers without due process and has used increasingly violent rhetoric about sending troops to U.S. cities. — President Donald Trump …
2025-09-09 23:30:00 UTC
MSNBC
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Atlanta, GA — A Fulton County judge found Tuesday that Georgia’s attorney general lacked authority to bring racketeering charges against protesters named in the sprawling Cop City RICO case, calling into question the foundation and future of the massive legal effort to criminalize a movement.
While Judge Kevin Farmer has not yet issued an official ruling cementing his decision, his finding that the attorney general’s office doesn’t have the authority to bring Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization, or RICO, charges in this case effectively derails the prosecution’s strategy of connecting protesters to a conspiracy against Cop City and the state itself.
Farmer indicated from the bench that he intends to dismiss conspiracy and related arson charges. If such a ruling comes down, the new vastly reduced case would only include five defendants accused of domestic terrorism, down from the 61 people currently named in the indictment.
In 2023, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr brought a far-reaching RICO indictment against dozens of opponents of Atlanta’s recently built Public Safety Training Center, more commonly known as Cop City.
For years, a diverse movement organized to stop the expansive police training facility from being built in a wooded area south of metro Atlanta. Using a blend of tactics ranging from petition drives to sabotage, the movement to “Stop Cop City” brought national attention to the issue of policing and power in Georgia and beyond. As protests and actions took place, the state and federal government began to charge movement participants criminally, including with domestic terrorism and racketeering.
But on Tuesday, more than two years into the legal process surrounding the case, Judge Farmer found that the Attorney General lacked authority to charge the defendants under the state’s RICO statute.
Under Georgia’s RICO legislation, in order for the attorney general to bring a RICO indictment the person indicted must be “dealing with or for the state” when committing the alleged offense. Defense attorney Andrew Hall successfully argued that his client, and others named in the indictment, were not dealing with or for the state, thereby requiring special permission from the governor for the attorney general to bring RICO charges.
“At this time, I do not find the attorney general had the authority to bring this RICO case,” Farmer said from the bench Tuesday morning.
“The mechanisms were in place, and steps just weren’t followed,” Farmer said of Carr’s failure to get permission from the governor to bring the RICO indictment against the movement to stop Cop City.
All day Monday and into Tuesday morning, lawyers representing four of the 61 defendants in the conspiracy case brought against Cop City protesters argued a list of motions to dismiss various parts of the massive indictment that implicates their clients.
One motion, brought by attorney Andrew Hall, argued the state erred when it indicted his client under the state’s RICO statute.
Hall asserted that Thomas Jurgens, who was arrested at a music festival opposing Cop City on March 5, 2023 while acting as a legal observer for the National Lawyers’ Guild, was wrongfully implicated in the conspiracy as he was not “dealing with or for the state” as part of his alleged crime.
On that basis, Hall asked the court to dismiss the only count against his client in the indictment for lack of prosecutorial authority. Judge Farmer ultimately agreed with the argument, finding that the attorney general’s office should have sought permission from the governor to bring the RICO indictment.
Farmer, while deliberating from the bench, questioned whether he should dismiss the entire indictment on these grounds or just dismiss the RICO and subsequent arson charges. While the original indictment included numerous other counts of money laundering, those were each dropped last year, leaving only the RICO, domestic terrorism and arson counts at the time of Tuesday’s hearing.
Farmer made clear that the attorney general’s office had the authority to pursue the domestic terrorism charges even if the other two counts are dismissed.
While Farmer is likely to dismiss the first and third counts in the indictment, namely RICO and arson charges, the second count of domestic terrorism may stand.
The state may appeal Farmer’s ruling, in which case the issue would return to court, but barring an appeal the RICO charges will not proceed.
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 The post Judge Finds Attorney General Can’t Bring RICO Charges in Cop City Case appeared first on UNICORN RIOT.
2025-09-09 23:23:40 UTC
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Dan Diamond / Washington Post:
Fired CDC director who clashed with RFK Jr. set to testify in Senate — The hearing would give Susan Monarez a high-profile opportunity to respond to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s claims about her ethics and their conversations about vaccines. — Just now — Susan Monarez is set to testify …
2025-09-09 23:05:01 UTC
Washington Post
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Gino Fanelli / WXXI News:
ICE agents in the Park Ave neighborhood spark large-scale protest — Federal immigration agents were seemingly forced to retreat from a roofing job site Tuesday in the Park Avenue neighborhood after being confronted by more than 100 protesters. — The group shouted “shame” and “Gestapo …
2025-09-09 23:05:01 UTC
WXXI News
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Jen Rice / Democracy Docket:
Missouri House Sends GOP Gerrymander to the Senate — The Missouri House in a 90-65 vote approved a Republican congressional gerrymander, advancing the map to the Senate as part of a national plan to try to rig the 2026 election by eliminating Democratic seats in Congress.
2025-09-09 23:00:29 UTC
Democracy Docket
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Anna Bower / Lawfare:
The Judicial Learning Curve — District court judges watch each other struggle with the Trump administration—and adapt. — annabower.bsky.social — Meet The Authors … Around 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, a supervisor at the Compass Connections children's shelter …
2025-09-09 23:00:29 UTC
Lawfare
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Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court again gives no explanation in ruling for Trump, this time on immigration — The provisional decision only applies to one judge's decision in Los Angeles, but the Trump administration hailed it as a major win as it seeks to ramp up immigration enforcement.
2025-09-09 23:00:29 UTC
NBC News
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Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Can Trump Deflate the Epstein Scandal? — Suppose that you work for the Trump White House and the boss calls you in with a special request: He wants stronger pushback against the attempts to keep the Jeffrey Epstein scandal in the headlines. — What might you offer him?
2025-09-09 23:00:29 UTC
New York Times
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Chief Justice Roberts Lets Trump Block Foreign Aid for Now — Acting on his own, the chief justice issued an “administrative stay” pausing a trial judge's ruling while the full court considers the matter. — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Tuesday temporarily paused …
2025-09-09 23:00:29 UTC
New York Times
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Washington Post:
Oliver North weds Fawn Hall, his secretary during Iran-contra scandal — The two figures in the 1980s controversy tied the knot last month, according to a Virginia marriage license. — In what can only be described as a uniquely Washington love connection, Oliver North and Fawn Hall …
2025-09-09 22:40:03 UTC
Washington Post
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Garrett M. Graff / Doomsday Scenario:
ICE is Eating the Soul of America — Four things that show ICE increasingly considers itself outside the law … A big part of this newsletter is trying to mark the moments when America changes — when today is different from before. — A big change happened yesterday …
2025-09-09 21:25:00 UTC
Doomsday Scenario
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Justin Jouvenal / Washington Post:
Supreme Court to weigh legality of Trump's tariffs in key economic case — Trump has said tariffs will help end the fentanyl crisis, rebuild manufacturing and save jobs, but the moves have unsettled investors and stoked economic concerns. — just now — The Supreme Court on Tuesday announced …
2025-09-09 21:15:01 UTC
Washington Post
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Lindsay Whitehurst / Associated Press:
Supreme Court to quickly consider if President Donald Trump has power to impose sweeping tariffs — The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted an unusually quick hearing on whether President Donald Trump has the power to impose sweeping tariffs under federal law.
2025-09-09 21:05:00 UTC
Associated Press
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Eli McKown-Dawson / Silver Bulletin:
Is Susan Collins toast? — This is the second article in our series on the most interesting 2026 House and Senate races. Make sure to check out the first entry in the series on Georgia's Senate race. — Before we get to the, uh, Maine event, Nate jumping in with a couple of quick announcements.
2025-09-09 20:45:00 UTC
Silver Bulletin
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Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to withhold $4 billion in foreign aid — Chief Justice John Roberts issued an order that blocks a lower court ruling while the Supreme Court decides how to proceed in the case. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration …
2025-09-09 20:35:00 UTC
NBC News
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Politico:
'He's a nut': Hill Republicans sour on Trump housing official Bill Pulte … “I think he's a nut,” one House Republican said of Pulte. (Like others in this story, the lawmaker was granted anonymity to speak candidly about sensitive dynamics within the Trump administration.)
2025-09-09 20:20:01 UTC
Politico
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New York Times:
Israeli Strike Targets Hamas Leadership in Qatar, a Gaza War Mediator — The Gulf nation of Qatar has been trying to negotiate a cease-fire in the conflict. The attack threatened to destabilize those peace efforts. — Israel targeted senior members of Hamas's leadership in a strike on Tuesday in Qatar …
2025-09-09 19:55:00 UTC
New York Times
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Connor O'Brien / Politico:
Congress to vote on repeal of president's Middle East war powers — House Republicans are planning a vote to repeal two laws that authorized military force in the Middle East, amid broader concerns by Democrats and some in the GOP that President Donald Trump is using U.S. troops in inappropriate ways.
2025-09-09 19:25:00 UTC
Politico
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New York Times:
Gabbard Retracted Intelligence Report on Venezuela — The report, which remains classified, described work by Richard Grenell, a former top intelligence official in the Trump administration. — Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, took the unusual step of ordering …
2025-09-09 19:20:04 UTC
New York Times
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Wall Street Journal:
See More Pages From Epstein's 50th Birthday Book — Letters released by Congress show pages signed by Bill Clinton, Leon Black and Ghislaine Maxwell — Here's a look at pages that were contained in Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday book. These images were released Monday by Congress …
2025-09-09 19:20:04 UTC
Wall Street Journal
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Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
Michigan ‘fake electors’ will not face a criminal trial, judge rules — The 15 Michigan Republicans were trying to seek redress after Trump's 2020 election loss and attempted to perform their civic duties, the judge said. — Fifteen accused “fake electors” in Michigan will not face …
2025-09-09 18:40:00 UTC
NBC News
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Kaelan Deese / Washington Examiner:
Judge who released Charlotte light rail killer has history of addiction activism — A North Carolina magistrate judge is under fire for allowing a schizophrenic, repeat offender to walk free without bond, seven months before he fatally stabbed a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte light rail train …
2025-09-09 18:10:00 UTC
Washington Examiner
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Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:
How CBS News' Trumpy new ombudsman fits into the right's anti-media campaign — The new owners of CBS News announced Monday that they have selected Kenneth R. Weinstein — a Donald Trump supporter and right-wing think-tanker with no apparent newsroom experience who often criticizes …
2025-09-09 17:50:00 UTC
Media Matters for America
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Today's links
Trump steals $400b from American workers (permalink)
Trump's stolen a lot of workers' wages over the years, but this week, he has become history's greatest thief of wages, having directed his FTC…
2025-09-09 17:40:21 UTC
09 Sep 2025
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Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:
Supreme Court's scant explanations in Trump emergency cases draw friction — The Supreme Court's scant explanation in recent emergency decisions backing President Trump is sparking increasing debate among lower judges — and even the justices themselves. — The Supreme Court …
2025-09-09 17:25:02 UTC
The Hill
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New York Times:
In Epstein's ‘Birthday Book,’ a Celebration of His Lecherous Exploits — The book containing 50th birthday tributes to Jeffrey Epstein was released on Monday by the House Oversight Committee. — One friend compared him to the main character in Ernest Hemingway's “The Old Man and the Sea …
2025-09-09 17:00:32 UTC
New York Times
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Zach Everson / Forbes:
Eric Trump Removed From Board Role After Firm Consults Nasdaq — Topline — A Trump Organization-backed crypto deal was quietly revised weeks after it was announced, with Eric Trump no longer joining the board of fintech firm Alt5 Sigma as initially planned, following the firm's consultation with Nasdaq …
2025-09-09 17:00:32 UTC
Forbes
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New York Times:
In Epstein's ‘Birthday Book,’ a Celebration of His Lecherous Exploits — The book containing 50th birthday tributes to Jeffrey Epstein was released on Monday by the House Oversight Committee. — One friend compared him to the main character in Ernest Hemingway's “The Old Man and the Sea …
2025-09-09 17:00:32 UTC
New York Times
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NBC News:
Trump calls Epstein birthday letter a ‘dead issue’ — The president has denied that he wrote the letter, which was part of a trove of documents the House Oversight Committee released Monday. — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declined to discuss the letter to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein …
2025-09-09 16:50:00 UTC
NBC News
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Andrew Solender / Axios:
House Democrats probe Trump attack dog Bill Pulte — House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Tuesday launched an investigation into Bill Pulte, the Trump administration housing official targeting some of the president's political enemies.
2025-09-09 16:40:01 UTC
Axios
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