September 26, 2025

Marie: Sorry, I've been out all day moving kitchen cabinets & visiting the police (among other things); only one of these two activities was in my plans for the day. 

In yesterday's Comments, Akhilleus suggested a bunch of reasons why Drunk Pete might have ordered all the U.S. flag officers to drop what they were doing & fly to Virginia to gather 'round the campfire and listen to a Message from Pete. Akhilleus' suggestions were ridiculous and funny. The real reason? Just as ridiculous as the funny reasons Akhilleus made up. ~~~

~~~ Tara Copp, et al., of the Washington Post: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered hundreds of generals to travel on short notice from around the world to hear him make a short speech on military standards and the 'warrior ethos,' multiple people familiar with the event told The Washington Post. Hegseth’s orders, which were sent earlier this week to senior generals and admirals worldwide, require anyone in a command position with the rank of one-star general or rear admiral and above, as well as their senior enlisted leaders, to be at Marine Corps University at Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.” ~~~

     ~~~  Timothy Snyder on Substack: "... I do not think anyone at least in recent history has done what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is about to do: put all of the American generals and admirals from around the world into a single room (next week, in Virginia) just to say something to them. There is no practical reason to do this: he has easier and more secure ways to communicate with the commanders. And there are obvious risks: the entire armed forces of the United States, spread around the world, will be without its leaders. Given that the government could well shut down the next day, the separation of commanders from their command might be indefinite.... The entirety of the American command structure will be more vulnerable, physically, than in any conceivable military scenario, including nuclear war." ~~~

     ~~~ Ret. Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling in the Bulwark: "In my forty years in uniform, I never saw anything like it.... To disrupt the world’s most powerful military by having its leaders travel across multiple time zones to stage a mass meeting in Virginia is nothing less than operational malpractice. THE IRONY IS that better options exist — and have been proven in practice. Secure video teleconferencing has been part of Pentagon life for decades.... In a moment when readiness is our greatest asset, the secretary of defense has chosen disruption, cost, and vulnerability to stage a demonstration of power." ~~~

~~~ Eli Stokols of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Friday praised the Justice Department’s indictment of James Comey and suggested the former FBI director may not be the last of his political enemies to be charged, although he denied having a list of targets. 'It’s not a list, but I think there will be others,' Trump told reporters before departing the White House to watch the Ryder Cup golf tournament in New York. 'I hope there will be others.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: “MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian reported that within the Justice Department, many insiders believe this is 'among the worst abuses' in the history of the institution. Describing the circumstances as 'shocking,' Dilanian added, 'It’s hard to overstate how a big a moment this is.' Indeed, among the most striking things about the Comey indictment is that it is plainly what it appears to be.... A failing, desperate and unpopular president wanted a critic to be charged, without regard for merit; he publicly demanded the indictment; and he found officials who were willing to feed his appetite for revenge. Trump and his confederates aren’t hiding their weaponization of the criminal justice system, they’re flaunting it.... They need other White House critics to be afraid, and other federal prosecutors to understand that they’ll soon be unemployed unless they play ball the way newly installed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan did.The corruption is the point.” ~~~ 

~~~ Francesca Regalado of the New York Times: “The indictment of James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, was just two pages long and contained so little detail that it was hard for legal experts to assess its merits. Some former government lawyers, as well as prominent Democrats, said the case appeared so flimsy that it was likely to fail.... The indictment asserts that Mr. Comey lied when he testified to senators in 2020 that he had not authorized anyone in the F.B.I. to leak information to the news media about a bureau investigation into an unnamed person. But it was not even clear what episode the indictment refers to.... 'This is what prosecutors do in dictatorships,' Richard W. Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who served as the chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, said in a social media post.”

Hailey Fuchs of Politico: “New files turned over to congressional investigators from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein suggest the convicted sex offender, in the last years of his life, had ties with ... Donald Trump’s former adviser Elon Musk.... In what appears to be a copy of Epstein’s itinerary, Musk had a tentative trip to Epstein’s island on Dec. 6, 2014.... Another schedule notes a planned lunch with tech billionaire Peter Thiel on Nov. 27, 2017, and a breakfast with conservative political strategist Steve Bannon on Feb. 16, 2019 — just months before Epstein was charged with sex trafficking of minors. Bannon was Trump’s chief strategist, and Thiel is a prominent Republican megadonor.”

Ernesto Londoño, et al., of the New York Times: “Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday detained the superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools System, the president of the school board said in a statement. Jackie Norris, the president of the board, said she did not know why federal agents took Ian Roberts, the superintendent, into custody. Ms. Norris said that an associate superintendent, Matt Smith, would lead the system temporarily.”

Marisa Kabas of the Handbasket: “For about nine minutes Wednesday morning, ICE agents pinned a man to the ground in the middle of a Maryland intersection. It was broad daylight as he screamed in anguish and shouted for help in both Spanish and English. When bystanders gathered to bear witness, agents briefly brandished their guns and pointed at them, with one officer appearing to keep his finger on the trigger for several minutes after.”  

Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: “A federal immigration officer was 'relieved of his duties' and is under investigation after he shoved an Ecuadorean woman whose husband had been arrested and pushed her to the floor at an immigration courthouse in Manhattan, the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday. The altercation took place on Thursday at 26 Federal Plaza, the epicenter of ... [Donald] Trump’s immigration crackdown in New York City, and was captured in videos that spread rapidly on social media and beyond. The footage set off an outcry from New York City officials who denounced the behavior of the officer, who has not been identified, and demanded that he be disciplined.” Video is here.

Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: “Sinclair, one of two large local TV owners that dropped 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' after the late-night comedian’s remarks about the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, said on Friday that it would resume showing the program after negotiations with ABC. Sinclair, which owns scores of TV stations across the United States, had been pre-empting the show since its return on Tuesday, blacking out the program for millions of Americans.... Nexstar, another local TV giant, has also dropped Mr. Kimmel’s show, setting off a days-long standoff with Disney. Its boycott is still in effect.”

Ken Belson & Chelsia Marcius of the New York Times: “The gunman who killed four people in a Midtown Manhattan office building in July had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head injuries sustained in football and other contact sports, according to the New York City medical examiner’s office. The disease, known as C.T.E., can be diagnosed only posthumously. Shane Tamura, the gunman, killed himself after the shooting spree at 345 Park Avenue. The medical examiner 'found unambiguous diagnostic evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as C.T.E., in the brain tissue of the decedent,' according to a statement. 'The findings correspond with the classification of low-stage C.T.E., according to current consensus criteria.' Mr. Tamura, a former high school football player, shot himself in the chest after killing four people and left a note that said his motive was anger at the National Football League, which he blamed for hiding the effects of C.T.E. In the note, he asked that his brain be studied.”

Ephrat Livni, et al., of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel ruled out calls for a Palestinian state during a combative speech at the United Nations in New York on Friday, saying the recognition of Palestine by more than 150 countries was 'disgraceful' and vowing to 'finish the job' against Hamas in the war in the Gaza Strip.... The United States is the sole member of the U.N. Security Council that has not recognized Palestine. Mr. Netanyahu’s speech was the first at Friday’s session of the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, and many delegates and leaders either had not arrived, were boycotting or walked out when he took the podium.” 

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⭐Devlin Barrett, et al., of the New York Times: “A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, a culmination of ... [Donald] Trump’s relentless demand for retribution after the bureau investigated his 2016 presidential campaign over possible ties to Russia. Mr. Comey was indicted on one count of making a false statement and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding in connection with his testimony before a Senate committee in September 2020. The indictment, filed in Alexandria, Va., came over the objection of career prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia who found insufficient evidence to support charges but were overruled by Lindsey Halligan, a Trump loyalist handpicked by the president to run the office a few days ago. It represents the most significant legal step yet by the Trump administration to harry, punish and humiliate a former official the president identified as an enemy, at the expense of procedural safeguards intended to shield the Justice Department from political interference and personal vendettas.” ~~~

~~~ Eric Tucker, et al., of the AP: “James Comey was charged Thursday with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after ... Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies. The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official involved in one of Trump’s chief grievances, the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, to face prosecution. Trump has for years derided that investigation as a 'hoax' and a 'witch hunt' despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign, and has made clear his desire for retribution. Trump on Thursday hailed the indictment as 'JUSTICE FOR AMERICA!' Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Trump loyalist, and FBI Director Kash Patel, a longtime vocal critic of the Russia investigation, issued similar statements.” The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Here's the indictment, via the courts. 

~~~ Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: “In a video posted online Thursday night, the former FBI chief and onetime deputy attorney general proclaimed his innocence — and hinted at a strategy for challenging the case against him as an act of political vengeance by Trump himself. 'My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either,' Comey said. 'My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I’m innocent, so, let’s have a trial.' Comey appeared to allude to the July firing of his daughter, Maurene Comey, who had been a federal prosecutor in Manhattan for nearly a decade. The indictment also prompted the resignation Thursday of Troy Edwards, a senior federal prosecutor in Alexandria who is married to another of James Comey’s daughters....”  ~~~ 

     (~~~ Lawrence O'Donnell also aired the Comey video, so if you watch the O'Donnell segment embedded below, you can skip the video embedded here.) ~~~  

~~~ Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: “An inexperienced prosecutor [-- Lindsey Halligan --] loyal to ... [Donald] Trump, in the job for less than a week, filed criminal charges against one of her boss’s most-reviled opponents. She did so not only at Mr. Trump’s direct command, but also against the urging of both her own subordinates and her predecessor, who had just been fired for raising concerns that there was insufficient evidence to indict.... Ms. Halligan ... had until now never prosecuted a single case in her career.... The charges, which were filed around 7 p.m. in Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., thrust the Justice Department into perilous new territory. The push for the indictment trampled over the agency’s long tradition of maintaining distance from the White House and resisting political pressure, and it raised the prospect of further arbitrary prosecutions pushed by Mr. Trump against his enemies.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Lawrence O'Donnell dedicated his entire hour last night to the Comey case, but the first segment -- embedded here -- makes the bones of Comey's case and is worth watching. BTW, among Andy McCabe's "conflicting statements," according to other analyses I heard on the teevee, McCabe testified at some point that he had only told Comey that he authorized a leak after he (McCabe) had okayed the leak. If that is the fact, Comey could not have been lying when he said he hadn't authorized the leak because he didn't even know McCabe authorized the leak until after he had done so. In short, there's no there there. Even a crap lawyer like Miss Mar-a-Lardo 2025 could probably prove up Comey's case. ~~~

~~~ Washington Post Editors had an editorial ready-to-go: Trump “insisted Thursday that he was not involved in the charging decision but added that he could have been if he had wanted to, and also that Comey is 'a bad person' who 'did terrible things at the FBI.' In the president’s view, he suffered through an ill-advised process of criminal prosecution and wants to inflict it on his foes. That might give him satisfaction. The rest of the country will more likely regard it as at worst an abuse of power and at best a waste of time.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “A senior Justice Department official [-- Todd Blanche --] has instructed more than a half dozen U.S. attorney’s offices to draft plans to investigate a group funded by George Soros, the billionaire Democratic donor whom ... [Donald] Trump has demanded be thrown in jail. The official’s directive, a copy of which was viewed by The New York Times, goes as far as to list possible charges prosecutors could file, ranging from arson to material support of terrorism. The memo suggests department leaders are following orders from the president that specific people or groups be subject to criminal investigation — a major break from decades of past practice meant to insulate the Justice Department from political interference. The move is the latest instance of the Justice Department moving against Mr. Trump’s perceived enemies.”  (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is so far over the top that it borders on the insane. Update: BUT quite in keeping of course with the indictment of Comey.

⭐George Packer of the Atlantic, republished by AOL: “We are living in an authoritarian state.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Thursday ordered his administration to investigate what he claimed were rich people and organizations funding left-wing political violence around the country, citing the recent assassination of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. In a presidential memorandum, Mr. Trump moved to marshal the forces of the F.B.I., Justice Department and Treasury Department to find and prosecute such activity and the 'institutional and individual funders, and officers and employees of organizations, that are responsible for, sponsor or otherwise aid and abet the principal actors engaging in the criminal conduct.'... Law enforcement officials have long said that efforts like the antifascist movement, or antifa, are more of a disparate collection of like-minded people who generally do not take instruction from organizational leaders. Mr. Trump has argued the opposite, claiming without evidence that hidden hands fund, aid and direct attacks on the government, law enforcement and Republicans.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In 2004, Dubya took a lot of heat for running a gag slide show at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in which he was depicted looking around the Oval Office for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction. Now Trump is ordering the DOJ & Treasury to actually do something similar: look under chairs and behind mystery doors for nonexistent antifa funders. Trump's administration is a running gag. And it isn't very funny.

(Marie: BTW, congrats to Devlin Barrett. He has been at the Times for only a few months, but already he is writing its entire front page.) Perhaps not coincidentally, Barrett (who previously worked for the Washington Post) also features in the evidence itself in the Comey indictment, as you'll see if you listen to Lawrence O'Donnell's segment linked above.

Donald the Barbarian. Michael Laris & Jenny Gathright of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump instructed top prosecutors in a memo on Thursday to pursue the death penalty 'to the maximum degree practicable' in D.C., marking his latest move to exert control over law enforcement in the city. The memo, addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Attorney to D.C. Jeanine Pirro, cites the crime emergency Trump declared in the city in August and says the 'implementation of the capital punishment laws will be part of this continuing work.' 'You kill somebody, or if you kill a police officer, law enforcement officer — death penalty,' Trump said at an Oval Office signing ceremony Thursday.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I think the death penalty is barbarous. A responsible person who favored its usage in some circumstances would not hold a "ceremony" to "celebrate" imposing the death penalty "to the max." 

Tariff Man. Ana Swanson, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Thursday announced a slew of steep tariffs on pharmaceuticals, semi trucks, kitchen cabinets and furniture, saying import taxes on those products would go into effect on Oct. 1. The effects of the new tariffs are likely to be felt across sectors of the economy, from housing and health care to logistics. The tariffs range from 25 percent to 100 percent, with the highest levies applying to 'any branded or patented' pharmaceutical product coming into the United States. The president also said the United States would begin imposing a 50 percent tariff on imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and associated products, along with a 30 percent tariff on imported upholstered furniture and a 25 percent tariff on foreign semi trucks.”

Lauren Hirsch, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that would help clear the way for a coalition of investors to run an American version of TikTok, one that is separate from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, so that it can keep operating in the United States.... The deal is aimed at helping TikTok comply with a federal law, which banned the app in the United States in January out of concern that Beijing could use it to gain access to Americans’ sensitive data or to spread propaganda. Mr. Trump has delayed enforcement of the ban repeatedly. The Thursday order gives negotiators until mid-January to finalize the deal.”

Arden Farhi of CBS News: "New architectural renderings obtained by CBS News reveal in more detail the White House ballroom that is currently under construction. The Trump administration announced in July that a 90,000-square-foot ballroom with a seated capacity for 650 people will be constructed in the White House's East Wing. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the project would be paid for by private donors and the president himself, who has committed to disclosing donors' names.... CBS News reported last week that corporate and individual donors have pledged nearly $200 million to cover construction costs, and fundraising is ongoing. Google, R.J. Reynolds, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Palantir and NextEra Energy have donated, sources told CBS News, and so have firms in the tech, manufacturing, banking and health industries." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

 

 

     ~~~ Marie: So kind of Neo-Beaux-Arts Plus Random Greek facade. Maybe Comic Neofascist, for short. The White House itself is not, IMO, a beautiful building, but this addition is atrocious. Nonetheless, fitting, I suppose, for what the nation is about to become.

Project Dictator-for-Life, Ctd. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: “The Department of Justice sued six states, including Pennsylvania, the nation’s biggest presidential battleground, on Thursday as the Trump administration escalates its efforts to obtain the personal and private information of voters. The lawsuits, filed against California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, follows similar suits that the department brought against Maine and Oregon, two Democratic-controlled states. All of those states have rebuffed previous demands from the Justice Department to gain access to statewide voter rolls that include sensitive information.... The six lawsuits are the latest, and most aggressive, step in the Justice Department’s quest to amass the largest set of national voter roll data it has ever collected, buttressing an effort by ... [Donald] Trump and his supporters to make false and unsubstantiated claims that droves of undocumented immigrants have voted illegally.... Mr. Trump has sought extraordinary influence over how elections are run, from issuing an executive order intended to force voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship to publicly calling for an end to mail-in voting. The attempts from the executive branch to exert power over elections would upend centuries of settled election law that designates states as the main arbiters of elections.”

How Inconvenient! Julian Barnes & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: “Every four years U.S. intelligence officials have published Global Trends, a public document that predicts what challenges the United States — and the world — will face in the coming decades. With the intelligence community often focused on immediate issues, the Global Trends report has taken a longer-term look. Past editions warned of threats and shifts that came to pass, including climate change challenges, new immigration patterns and the risk of a pandemic. But the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, led by Tulsi Gabbard, is eliminating the group that compiles the report. Some of the warnings, most notably on climate change, had become politically inconvenient, according to former officials.”

Tara Copp, et al., of the Washington Post: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered hundreds of the U.S. military’s generals and admirals to gather on short notice — and without a stated reason — at a Marine Corps base in Virginia next week, sowing confusion and alarm after the Trump administration’s firing of numerous senior leaders this year. The highly unusual directive was sent to virtually all of the military’s top commanders worldwide, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the matter. The directive was issued earlier this week, as a government shutdown looms, and months after Hegseth’s team at the Pentagon announced plans to undertake a sweeping consolidation of top military commands.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Whether he knows it or not, Hegseth has access to a top-secret communications system through which he can communicate with all top brass.... Besides the fact that it is foolish to keep your own military leaders in the dark, you also don't want to convey to a world full of enemies that, hey, anybody who can make a decision about anything is stuck in a basement room at Quantico with Drunk Pete. Update: In a discussion of this stunt on MSNBC yesterday afternoon, former Sen. Claire McCaskill, who served on the Armed Services Committee, and Retired Army General Mark Hertling both expressed alarm at this entirely unnecessary and what McCaskill called Hegseth's "performative" gathering designed "to show who was boss." Hertling said the meeting would be a foolish national security risk, would cost taxpayers millions of dollars and cost the services thousands of man hours. Gen. Hertling said general meetings among flag officers often take place, but on secure systems, not in person. ~~~

     ~~~ Hegseth Meeting Confuses Elderly Man in White House. Eric Schmitt, et al., of the New York Times: “When asked by reporters at the White House about the summit..., [Donald] Trump initially appeared unfamiliar with Mr. Hegseth’s plans. He seemed to assume that the defense secretary was bringing foreign military officers in for a meeting. 'I think it is great; let him be friendly with generals and admirals from all over the world,' Mr. Trump replied. 'Remember, I’m the president of peace.' Vice President JD Vance interrupted to clarify that the summit was for U.S. generals and downplayed its significance. 'It’s not particularly unusual that generals who report to the secretary of war and then to the president of the United States are coming to speak with the secretary of war,' Mr. Vance said. 'I think it’s odd that you guys have made it into such a big story.'... The large number of lower-ranking generals and admirals in command positions who could also be ordered to Washington — including those working active conflict zones ... — is without precedent in recent memory, military officials said.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll bet Trump didn't appreciate JayDee's publicly Vancesplaining the meeting to him. It made him look like an addled old man who didn't know WTF was going on. Which he is.

Doktor Zoom of Wonkette on the shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas. Down the page, Dok writes: “This is where we would like to suggest that if the administration doesn’t want to see ICE portrayed as Nazi goons, stormtroopers, slave catchers, and secret police, it might help if those agents acted less like paramilitaries and masked thugs. Case in point: A Massachusetts family says that last week, ICE agents surrounded their 5-year-old autistic daughter and refused to let her go, in an effort to make the parents surrender to them. The couple has shared video of the little girl sitting in their driveway as agents in vests marked 'POLICE' stand around her, as the parents plead with them to let her go to them.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ In a related post, Robyn Pennacchia of Wonkette writes: “... over and over [the Right] assured us that they were not responsible [for violence], because 'words are not violence, violence is violence.'... On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security issued an announcement demanding that people stop their demonizing of ... [Donald] Trump, his supporters, and DHS law enforcement agents — claiming that this is the cause of the recent shooting of Charlie Kirk and the attack on an ICE detention center yesterday by a 29-year-old guy from Texas and sometimes Oklahoma who either had to live with his parents or was going to have to move in with them, had no history of being even remotely political, and only managed to hit detainees, not agents.... If people are getting violent towards ICE officers, it’s not because we are 'demonizing them.'... Kristi Noem may think she looks totes adorbs frolicking around in her ICE Barbie outfits and hair extensions, but it is a deeply, deeply disturbing visual for anyone who thinks of these immigrants as human beings. No one needs to say 'They look like the Gestapo' out loud.... They’re masked men dragging people off without identifying themselves, beating people, demanding to see papers, separating families, and sending people to far off lands where they don’t know anyone.” (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~ Joshua Kaplan, et al., of ProPublica: “... The Federal Emergency Management Agency was moving far too slowly in sending aid to communities ravaged by floods and hurricanes.... Many officials were blaming Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, whose agency oversees FEMA.... But ... one locality found a way to get FEMA aid more quickly: It asked one of Noem’s political donors for help.... Records show that Noem quickly expedited more than $11 million of federal money to rebuild a historic pier in Naples, Florida, after she was contacted by a major financial supporter last month. The pier is a tourist attraction in the wealthy Gulf Coast enclave and was badly damaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022.... 'We are now at warp speed with FEMA,' one city official wrote in an email. A FEMA representative wrote: 'Per leadership instruction, pushing project immediately.'... Along with fast-tracking the money, Noem flew to Naples on a government plane to tour the pier herself. She then stayed for the weekend and got dinner with the donor, local cardiologist Sinan Gursoy....”

Hailey Fuchs of Politico: “The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has received new materials from the estate of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.... '[T]he Epstein estate has produced unredacted calendars, call logs, and cash ledgers to the Oversight Committee,' said an Oversight committee aide.... 'We intend to make records public once victims’ names are redacted.'... Epstein’s estate has been cooperating with the panel’s request....”

Jessica Silver-Greenberg & Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: “Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, called on Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive, to provide detailed information about the bank’s 15-year relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 'The victims of Epstein’s abuse and the American public deserve answers on the role the U.S. banks played in enabling Epstein’s crimes,' Mr. Wyden wrote in a letter on Wednesday, the latest push by Democrats and some Republicans to investigate the part major financial institutions played in enabling Mr. Epstein’s decades-long sex trafficking operation.”

Karen Weise of the New York Times: “Amazon agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle claims that it tricked tens of millions of people into signing up for its Prime membership program, and then made it hard for customers to cancel when they wanted out, the Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday. The settlement came days into a jury trial that began in Seattle this week over the issue, which stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the F.T.C. in 2023. The lawsuit cut to the heart of how Amazon defines itself as a champion for the hundreds of millions of consumers who regularly use its online shopping service. The settlement includes $1 billion in penalties and $1.5 billion in payouts to customers, who could get $51 each if they qualify. The agency said it is one of the largest settlements in its history.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's how to get a refund, via Axios. Here's the Washington Post's version. Amazon will automatically give the refund to some people; others have to apply. Generally speaking, you are eligible only if you haven't used Prime "benefits" very often. Thanks to Forrest M. for the lead.

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New Jersey Gubernatorial Race. Alec Dent of the Washington Post: “Rep. Mikie Sherrill and other leading Democrats Thursday called for an investigation into what they claim was a politically motivated leak of Sherrill’s unredacted military service records, which included her Social Security number and other personal details, to an ally of Sherrill’s Republican opponent in the New Jersey gubernatorial election.... Sean Higgins, Sherrill’s campaign communications director...,  suggested the Trump administration may have violated federal law with the release and accused [Republican Jack] Ciattarelli['s gubernatorial] campaign of being complicit. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) also called Thursday for a criminal investigation into the release of Sherrill’s personal information.... 

“The National Personnel Records Center, part of the National Archives and Records Administration, released Sherrill’s full military file with only minor redactions in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Nicholas De Gregorio, a New Jersey politician and ally of Ciattarelli. Sherrill’s Social Security number, home address and other personal details that were supposed to be redacted were left in the documents when released.... In [a] letter to Sherrill, National Personnel Records Center Director Scott Levins apologized and called the incident an 'error.'” Republicans have been claiming that Sherrill was implicated in a 199os cheating scandal at the Naval Academy. The CBS News story, which broke the news, is here.

Oklahoma. Megan Lebowitz of NBC News: “Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Wednesday that he would step down from his role overseeing the state's schools to lead the conservative group Teacher Freedom Alliance, saying, 'We're going to destroy the teachers unions.'... Teacher Freedom Alliance confirmed Walters’ new role as CEO, saying in a post to X that he 'fearlessly fights the woke liberal union mob.'” Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)  

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Israel/Palestine, et al. Adam Rasgon & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said on Thursday that he would not allow Israel to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank, after assuring leaders of Arab and Muslim-majority nations of his stance on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. 'I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,' he said in the Oval Office. He added: 'There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.'... Israeli officials have recently suggested that their government could annex at least part of the West Bank in retaliation for decisions by nations like Britain, Canada and France recognizing Palestinian statehood.”