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Tag: Jeffrey Epstein

  • US Launches Christmas Strikes on Nigeria—the 9th Country Bombed by Trump

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    Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    President Donald Trump makes phone calls to US troops on Christmas Eve, from the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 24, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

    Trump—who calls himself “the most anti-war president in history”—has now bombed more countries than any president in history.

    President Donald Trump—the self-described “most anti-war president in history”—has now ordered the bombing of more countries than any president in history as US forces carried out Christmas day strikes on what the White House claimed were Islamic State militants killing Christians in Nigeria.

    “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” Trump said Thursday in a post on his Truth Social network.

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    “I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” the president continued. “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.”

    “Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper,” Trump added. “May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.”

    A US Department of Defense official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press that the United States worked with Nigeria to conduct the bombing, and that the government of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu—who is a Muslim—approved the attacks.

    It was not immediately known how many people were killed or wounded in the strikes, or whether there are any civilian casualties.

    The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “terrorist violence in any form, whether directed at Christians, Muslims, or other communities, remains an affront to Nigeria’s values and to international peace and security.”

    The US bombings followed a threat last month by Trump to attack Nigeria with “guns-a-blazing” if the country’s government did not curb attacks on Christians.

    Northwestern Nigeria—including Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, and parts of Kaduna State—is suffering a complex security crisis, plagued by armed criminal groups, herder-farmer disputes, and Islamist militants including Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP/ISIS) and Boko Haram. Both Christians and Muslims have been attacked.

    Since emerging in Borno State in 2009, Boko Haram has waged war on the Nigerian state—which it regards as apostate—not against any particular religious group. In fact, the majority of its victims have been Muslims.

    “According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, more Muslims than Christians have been targeted in recent years,” Chloe Atkinson recently wrote for Common Dreams. “Boko Haram has massacred worshipers in mosques, torched markets in Muslim-majority areas, and threatened their own coreligionists.”

    “The crisis in Nigeria is not a holy war against Christianity.”

    “It is true that Christian communities in the north-central regions have suffered unimaginable horrors as raids have left villages in ashes, children murdered in their beds, and churches reduced to rubble,” she said. “The April massacre in Zike and the June bloodbath in Yelwata are prime examples of the atrocities taking place in Nigeria.”

    “The crisis in Nigeria is not a holy war against Christianity,” Atkinson continued. “Instead, it’s a devastating cocktail of poverty, climate-driven land disputes, and radical ideologies that prey on everyone and not just any distinct group.”

    “By framing Nigeria’s conflict as an existential threat to Christians alone, Trump is not shining a spotlight on the victims,” she added. “Instead, he is weaponizing right-wing conspiracy theories to stoke Islamophobia, the same toxic playbook he used to fuel his ban on Muslims, and which left refugee families shattered at America’s borders.”

    Former libertarian US Congressman Justin Amash (R-Mich.) noted on X that “there’s no authority for strikes on terrorists in Nigeria or anywhere on Earth,” adding that the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)—which was approved by every member of Congress except then-Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)—“is only for the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.”

    “The War Powers Resolution doesn’t grant any authority beyond the Constitution,” Amash added. “Offensive military actions need congressional approval. The Framers of the Constitution divided war powers to protect the American people from war-eager executives. Whether the United States should engage in conflicts across the globe is a decision for the people’s representatives in Congress, not the president.”

    In addition to Nigeria, Trump—who says he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize—since 2017 has also ordered the bombing of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as boats allegedly transporting drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. Trump has also deployed warships and thousands of US troops near Venezuela, which could become the next country attacked by a president who campaigned on a platform of “peace through strength.”

    That’s more than the at least five countries attacked during the tenure of former President George W. Bush or the at least seven nations attacked on orders of then-President Barack Obama during the so-called War on Terror, which killed more than 940,000 people—including at least 432,000 civilians, according to the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

    Trump continued the war on ISIS in Iraq and Syria started by Obama in 2014. Promising to “bomb the shit out of” ISIS fighters and “take out their families,” Trump intensified the US campaign from a war of “attrition” to one of “annihilation,” according to his former defense secretary, Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis. Thousand of civilians were killed as cities such as Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria were flattened.

    Trump declared victory over ISIS in 2018—and again the following year.

    Some social media users suggested Trump’s “warmongering” is an attempt to distract from the Epstein files scandal and alleged administration cover-up.

    “Bombing Nigeria won’t make us forget about the Epstein files,” said one X user.

    Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn't bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
    Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.

    Trump’s Reckless War Drums in Nigeria Stink of Islamophobia and Imperial Arrogance ›

  • Dems Demand Answers as Trump Photo Disappears From DOJ Online Epstein Files

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    Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    US Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a Senate committee on June 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

    “What else is being covered up?”

    Congressional Democrats on Saturday pressed US Attorney General Pam Bondi for answers regarding the apparent removal of a photo showing President Donald Trump surrounded by young female models from Friday’s Department of Justice release of files related to the late convicted child sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.

    Amid the heavily redacted documents in Friday’s DOJ release was a photo of a desk with an open drawer containing multiple photos of Trump, including one of him with Epstein and convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and another of him with the models.

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    However, the photo—labeled EFTA00000468 in the DOJ’s Epstein Library—was no longer on the site as of Saturday morning.

    “This photo, file 468, from the Epstein files that includes Donald Trump, has apparently now been removed from the DOJ release,” Democrats on the House Oversight Committee noted in a Bluesky post. “AG Bondi, is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”

    This photo, file 468, from the Epstein files that includes Donald Trump has apparently now been removed from the DOJ release.AG Bondi, is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.

    — Oversight Dems (@oversightdemocrats.bsky.social) 2025-12-20T17:30:49.868Z

    Numerous critics have accused the Trump administration of a cover-up due to the DOJ’s failure to meet a Friday deadline to release all Epstein-related documents and heavy redactions—including documents of 100 pages or more that are completely blacked out—to many of the files.

    Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded to the criticism by claiming that “the only redactions being applied to the documents are those required by law—full stop.”

    “Consistent with the statute and applicable laws, we are not redacting the names of individuals or politicians unless they are a victim,” he added.

    Earlier this year, officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation reportedly redacted Trump’s name from its file on Epstein, who was the president’s longtime former friend and who died in 2019 in a New York City jail cell under mysterious circumstances officially called suicide while facing federal child sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

    Trump has not been accused of any crimes in connection with Epstein.

    House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said during a Friday CNN interview that the DOJ only released about 10% of the full Epstein files.

    The DOJ is breaking the law by not releasing the full Epstein files. This is not transparency. This is just more coverup by Donald Trump and Pam Bondi. They need to release all the files, NOW.

    — Rep. Robert Garcia (@robertgarcia.house.gov) 2025-12-20T01:05:46.680Z

    “The DOJ has had months and hundreds of agents to put these files together, and yet entire documents are redacted—from the first word to the last,” Garcia said on X. “What are they hiding? The American public deserves transparency. Release all the files now!”

    In a joint statement Friday, Garcia and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said, “We are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law.”

    “The survivors of this nightmare deserve justice, the co-conspirators must be held accountable, and the American people deserve complete transparency from DOJ,” they added.

    Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)—who along with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law by Trump last month and required the release of all Epstein materials by December 19—said in a video published after Friday’s document dump that he and Massie “are exploring all options” to hold administration officials accountable.

    “It can be the impeachment of people at Justice, inherent contempt, or referring for prosecution those who are obstructing justice,” he added.

    Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

  • Cover-Up Feared as Epstein Files Law Lets DOJ Redact Info Sensitive to ‘National Security’

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    Original article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    A billboard in Times Square calls for the release of the Epstein Files on July 23, 2025, in New York City. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)

    “Not national security that has anything to do with the national defense or harm to the nation,” said independent journalist Ken Klippenstein. “But the self-serving kind that protects the system from the people.”

    After its near-unanimous approval in Congress and following months of sustained public pressure, President Donald Trump signed a law on Wednesday releasing the files from the FBI’s investigation into the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

    The law is called the “Epstein Files Transparency Act,” but critics fear that a key provision could allow the US Department of Justice to keep critical information from coming to light.

    The law requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to the investigations into Epstein and his partner and coconspirator Ghislaine Maxwell within the next 30 days.

    But critically, it gives Bondi expansive power to redact large amounts of information, potentially burying material that may be incriminating to the president, whose relationship with the disgraced financier has become the subject of greater speculation with each new set of documents released.

    One provision allows Bondi to redact documents to strike information that “would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution.” Last week, Trump ordered Bondi to open investigations into Epstein’s connections with several prominent Democrats: Among them are former President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman.

    Lawmakers have raised fears that these investigations were enacted to give Bondi greater leeway to scrub information from the record. On Monday, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), the law’s Republican cosponsor, warned that the DOJ “may be trying to use those investigations as a predicate for not releasing the files.”

    But another largely overlooked section may give her even more sweeping authority. The law states that information may also be redacted “if the attorney general makes a determination that covered information may not be declassified and made available in a manner that protects the national security of the United States, including methods or sources related to national security.” It also allows her to redact information deemed “to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy.”

    While the law requires Bondi to issue a written justification for each piece of redacted information and also clarifies that no file shall be “withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary,” it does not define the criteria Bondi must use to determine whether something is in the interest of America’s “national security,” “national defense,” or “foreign policy.”

    “One glaring loophole will prevent full transparency: It’s called national security,” wrote independent journalist Ken Klippenstein Monday, as the House moved toward a vote on the files. “Not national security that has anything to do with the national defense or harm to the nation, but the self-serving kind that protects the system from the people by depriving them of information.”

    There are many cases in recent memory of the US using national security as a justification to withhold information from the public. Earlier this year, the Trump administration used its “state secrets” privilege to deny a judge’s request to turn over information related to its extrajudicial deportation flights to El Salvador, arguing that it would compromise its diplomatic relations with that country. Meanwhile, past administrations have used national security to justify keeping the public in the dark about everything from the military’s use of torture to the government’s mass surveillance of American citizens.

    While the primary interest in Epstein surrounds his alleged role in facilitating a sex trafficking ring for the political and economic elite, there are clear cases where the government could attempt to use national security as a justification to keep information hidden.

    For example, recent documents have revealed the extent of his involvement with foreign intelligence and dealmaking. Drop Site Newshas reported extensively on Epstein’s long history working as an informal fixer for former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to secure deals with several foreign nations that benefited Israel and attempted to shape global politics, including in the United States, to its interests.

    Klippenstein has also raised concerns about the inclusion of the word “unclassified” in the bill, which he noted “is an official word that in theory only exists when it comes to national security matters; that is, that the release of such information could cause ‘harm’ to national security.”

    He said he asked Massie and the law’s Democratic cosponsor, Ro Khanna (Calif.), for comment on why that word was included at all since the law does not relate to national security. Neither responded.

    But Massie told journalist Michael Tracey back in September that a similar provision to redact info related to “national defense” was included because, “You have to put that in there if you’re going to get them to sign it.”

    House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who fought against the release of the files until the bitter end but ultimately voted for the bill along with all but one member of the House, invoked what he called “national security concerns” in a last-ditch effort to stop the discharge petition that brought the Epstein bill to the House floor.

    It echoed what Bondi herself said back in March when asked on Fox News why any information besides victims’ names would need to be stricken from the record: “Of course, national security.”

    “If large sections of the files remain redacted or withheld, the public may face a truncated version of ‘transparency,’ one that protects many of the powerful rather than exposes them,” wrote independent journalist Brian Allen. “This is not just a story about Epstein. It is a stress test of our system of accountability.”

    Original article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump picture with one of his wives, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
    Donald Trump picture with one of his wives, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

  • As House Vote Looms, State Lawmakers Challenge Trump to Release Epstein Files

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    Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Demonstrators carry signs calling out Donald Trump’s refusal to release files from the federal case against deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his former friend, in New York City’s Times Square on October 14, 2025. (Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    “Your eleventh-hour decision to not fight a vote in the House that you were certainly going to lose is yet another dodge,” Democratic legislators wrote to the president, a former friend of the dead criminal.

    After President Donald Trump’s sudden about-face on the US House of Representatives’ imminent vote to force the release of files on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a group of state legislators on Monday urged Trump to prove he is serious by not waiting for Congress to make public materials from the federal case against his former friend.

    In a letter provided to Common Dreams by the group Defend America Action, the 15 elected Democrats called on Trump and his administration to “put the issue of the Epstein files to bed once and for all” and “focus on what the American people are concerned about: the affordability crisis which has exploded on your watch.”

    “Just a few weeks ago, Americans from Georgia to Virginia to New Jersey registered their dissatisfaction with your economic performance with overwhelming victories for Democrats up and down the ballot,” they noted. “That should’ve been a wake-up call for you and your administration, but instead, you’ve turned to an all-too familiar strategy of gaslighting the American people with tales of a booming economy that don’t match reality.”t don’t match reality.”

    Americans are falling behind on utility bills and car loan payments as job growth has ground to a halt and inflation—driven in part by Trump’s sweeping tariffs—is costing average US households at least hundreds of dollars a month.

    “We need bipartisan solutions to the cost of living crisis, not multiple congressional committees, investigations, and precious floor time devoted to files related to Jeffrey Epstein, which you could release with the stroke of a pen.”

    US House Democrats and a few Republicans have long fought to make the Department of Justice release its files on the late financier, which Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) recently pushed off for weeks by refusing to swear in Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.)—a delay he tried to blame on the government shutdown.

    As the shutdown standoff over a looming healthcare crisis came to an end, Johnson finally administered the oath of office to Grijalva, who swiftly became the crucial 218th signature on a discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein files. While her decision set up a December vote, Johnson then moved up the timeline.

    With many House Republicans expected to vote for releasing the files as early as Tuesday, Trump sent shockwaves through the US on Sunday by suddenly declaring his support for the disclosure. He doubled down on Monday, telling reporters that he would sign the bill if it reached his desk but also returning to his claim that “the whole thing is a hoax.”

    Trump on if he'll sign an Epstein files release bill: "We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do. All of his friends were Democrats. You look at this Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, Clinton… all I want is I want for people to recognize the great job I've done on pricing, on affordability."

    — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-11-17T20:20:21.566Z

    As the state legislators wrote to Trump: “You have called the issue of the Epstein files a ‘hoax,’ and dismissed the numerous congressional efforts underway to pursue transparency, accountability, and justice for the hundreds of victims who suffered at Epstein’s hands. This issue has again overtaken Washington, DC, and you have mobilized enormous government resources, up to and including meetings in the ultra-secure Situation Room, to try to prevent the files’ release.”

    “Your eleventh-hour decision to not fight a vote in the House that you were certainly going to lose is yet another dodge—you could order the full release of the files today so that we can all move forward and deal with the issues our voters and yours care about: making life affordable for American families,” they argued. “Those priorities should be addressing the skyrocketing costs that are keeping families up at night: housing, food, energy, and healthcare.”

    “We need bipartisan solutions to the cost of living crisis, not multiple congressional committees, investigations, and precious floor time devoted to files related to Jeffrey Epstein, which you could release with the stroke of a pen,” they continued, stressing the need for “good partners” and “good policies” at the federal level to aid American families struggling with soaring prices. “Release the files and let’s get on with the business of the American people.”

    Signatories to the letter include Iowa Rep. Kenneth Croken, Vermont Rep. William Greer, Colorado Sen. Cathy Kipp, Michigan Rep. Stephen Wooden, and Kentucky Rep. Lisa Willner. It is also signed by Pennsylvania Reps. Danilo Burgos and Arvind Venkat, Maryland Dels. Ashanti Martinez and Vaughn Stewart, Wisconsin’s Sen. Melissa Ratcliff and Rep. Ryan Clancy, and four lawmakers from New Hampshire: Reps. John Cloutier, Chris McAleer, Terri O’Rorke, and Terry Spahr.

    Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump picture with one of his wives, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
    Donald Trump picture with one of his wives, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

  • Trump’s reversal with call to release Epstein files reveals inability to control Maga allies

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    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/17/trump-jeffrey-epstein-files-republicans

    Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach international airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

    President attempts to save face politically after pressuring Republicans to back off their pushes to release files

    Donald Trump’s call for Republicans to back the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, an abrupt reversal, is a rare instance of the president being unable to tame his Maga base and being instead forced to accede to it.

    Many Republicans are expected to support a vote in the US House this week to force the justice department to release the files. Once the measure passes, it would still need approval in the US Senate, where 13 Republican senators would need to join with all 47 Democrats to approve it.

    Trump spent last week aggressively squeezing allies in the US House, including Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina, to back off in their support of releasing the files. Those efforts were unsuccessful, and when it became apparent the measure was going to pass, Trump backed it in an effort to salvage an embarrassing political loss.

    …

    The House oversight committee last week released a tranche of documents they obtained from Epstein’s estate, including messages in which Epstein wrote that Trump knew of Epstein’s conduct. The messages also show Trump ally Steve Bannon advising Epstein on how to rehabilitate his image. Epstein further corresponded with other prominent people, including the former treasury secretary and Harvard president Larry Summers; the journalist Michael Wolff; and Kathryn Ruemmler, Barack Obama’s former White House counsel.

    The release of those messages has only further increased scrutiny on Trump, and built the pressure to release everything the government still has on Epstein – which could be quite a lot, given the number of federal investigations conducted into him.

    …

    Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/17/trump-jeffrey-epstein-files-republicans

    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump picture with one of his wives, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
    Donald Trump picture with one of his wives, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
    Donald Trump and his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.