James West

Jesse Jackson told me why he really ran for president He insisted it wasn’t a vanity project. History proved him right.

A real joy to work with former Mother Jones editor Douglas Foster on this remembrance—and corrective—in which he revisits his own 1987 MJ cover story, peels back the curtain, and reveals Jackson as the far-sighted visionary he truly was. A lovely read: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

weird.

Inside Epstein's very own "Oval Office": Power, peacocking, and printer toner. Epstein and his coterie had a self-aggrandizing nickname for a private office inside his Manhattan lair.

The "Oval Office."

That's the nickname Jeffrey Epstein had for the most functionally critical room in his Manhattan townhouse. It's where Epstein's "girls" kept their purses and prepped for Little St. James; packages for Woody Allen's wife were assembled.

@jamespwest.bsky.social investigates.

Inside Epstein's very own "Oval Office": Power, peacocking, and printer toner. Epstein and his coterie had a self-aggrandizing nickname for a private office inside his Manhattan lair.

Lots more inside, take a read www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

There are also the banal details familiar to anyone who has encountered this in a Slack chat:

Just-arrested Lord Mandelson took a Skype meeting in the Oval

Much is already known about Epstein's own opulent quarters, stuffed with rococo collectibles. But this Oval (literally ovoid in shape) was where "girls" slung purses and prepped trips the island. It was also the center of the favor-giving operation.

Inside Epstein's very own "Oval Office": Power, peacocking, and printer toner. Epstein and his coterie had a self-aggrandizing nickname for a private office inside his Manhattan lair.

I kept seeing “Oval Office” mentioned in the Epstein Files and wondered he it was literally talking about a new lamp for the real Oval Office. Turns out Epstein had his own ops hub he dubbed “the Oval Office”. I went down the rabbit hole. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

New details from Epstein files reveal Lutnick had years-long business tie with sex offender The commerce secretary apparently still hasn't come clean on his connection with Epstein.

The newly unearthed connections in this are 👀
The Department of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Over the past few months, I have spoken to over a dozen people who know Rep. Cory Mills. Nearly everyone, I found, dislikes him. Some outright despise him: “repulsive and vile,” “schmuck,” “little bitch.” Others were more formal. “I have no use for people with no honor,” an Idaho firearms instructor who worked with Mills in the Middle East told me. The most blunt was a veteran who once reported to Mills in the Army. He told me of the congressman from Florida: “I wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire.”

Now that's a lede

From @nlanard.bsky.social www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The Melania movie is an American obscenity The vapid, corruption-soaked film, which celebrates the myth of the "good immigrant," is more revelatory than it seems.

This by @inaeoh.bsky.social is the best thing I’ve read about the “Melania” monstrosity.

“… a ghastly parade of fun-house mirror herstory, will certainly be relegated to the footnotes of her family’s deeper atrocities.”

“Good immigrant” propaganda:

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

“If Minnesota falls, everything falls. We’re done as a nation.”

Fury. Grief. Anguish. Locals on the frontlines of Trump’s attack on Minneapolis are speaking out following the killing of another one of their neighbors. We’re on the ground with @samveep.bsky.social tracking the aftermath.

It’s not quite as cold as MN right now, but NYC just turned out a massive protest in solidarity in plunging temps, heading up 6th ave.

And here’s my bigger takeout video: People refuse to be gaslit. They know what they saw.

bsky.app/profile/moth...

Watch this series of interviews by @jamespwest.bsky.social

Oh boy, yes my mistake, cross-eyed after filing: THRONGS!!

A big crowd has amassed on Fifth Avenue in near Central Park in Manhattan this afternoon and after hearing some speeches a march is about to begin. I’ll be speaking to rally goers throughout so more soon.

I'm not sure I know what this means?

YouTube video by Mother Jones We’re on the Ground in Minneapolis as Tensions Flare After ICE Shooting

I spoke with noturtlesoup17.bsky.social who is on the ground in Minneapolis for @motherjones.com. She's been one of the country's most prominent chroniclers of ICE escalation. We'll be featuring more of her work over the coming weeks and months. Give her a follow.
www.youtube.com/shorts/7otLE...

What Trump’s Venezuela Attack Means for the World Podcast Episode · Reveal · 01/06/2026 · 32m

This is an excellent listen from @revealnews.org … wanted to get this to you as fast as we could so we brought forward our regular midweek show… everything about Venezuela’s oil, the market, the politics, and the giant shockwaves radiating around the world… podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Former PM Malcolm Turnbull was there, and sounded the alarm about the need to re-examine gun laws—and to ask why the one gunman was allowed to amass six firearms. “A very, very fair question is being asked,” he said. Gun laws “should be reviewed all the time.”

Jordan, a 23-year-old yacht manager told me: “A lot of people compare America to Australia, and how we’re safe because we’re not as loose with the laws of guns... It is a safe place, but for something like this to occur and to ruin it—it’s devastating.”

Edward Renton, 27, stood alone, his eyes glistened with anger. “It’s just fucking tragic that children are being shot next to a petting zoo, when they’re celebrating a holiday,” he said. “It’s definitely not something that Australians are used to, and hopefully we don’t have to get used to it.”

“Unfathomable.” Hanukkah massacre shatters Australia’s long-held pride in guns and safety. Anguish, outrage, and a national reckoning over antisemitism and gun control.

After the Sydney Hanukkah massacre, I saw anguish, outrage, and the beginnings of a national reckoning: How could the Jewish community have been left so vulnerable? And how did a nation that prides itself on strict gun laws allow two men to be so heavily armed?

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

There are likely several hundred people here today. Some sitting quietly reflecting. Others making the trip just to be with each other. Songs of Jewish prayer.

A somber scene of reflection and outrage outside the Bondi Pavilion where an impromptu vigil is taking place. Prayer, intense grief, amongst Sydney’s Jewish community.

“I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!” Sinatra kicking in after Mamdani’s speech. A quick sampling of the joy these Brooklyn bar-goers are feeling tonight: “We did it!” And this is just one small local bar.

Huge night for voting rights so far:

-Dems retain majority on PA Supreme Court

-Dems win VA gov & increase majority in VA leg increasing chances of new US House map

-Maine voters reject ballot initiative to require voter ID & restrict absentee voting

-KS Republicans drop gerrymandering push

Zohran Mamdani drags the Democratic party into the future This was a local race with national implications, whether the party's leaders liked it or not.

put a stake in it www.motherjones.com/politics/202...