grumpygrumpybirdwithbigeyes

What's New In the Epstein Files Was Epstein ready to name names before his death?

Was Jeffrey Epstein ready to name names?
Plus: DOJ releases new color photos of Epstein after his death open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...

Please let me know if you have any trouble subscribing! Trying to work out all the kinks before I officially launch. 🙏

one thing the trump era has made clear, i think, is that the american people themselves are far more committed to the values of our founding documents than our elites

Chedrick Greene wins state Senate 35th District Democratic primary The Associated Press called the race in favor of Greene at about 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Chedrick Greene, a fire captain in the city of Saginaw, will be the Democratic nominee for a May 5 special election for a crucial seat in the Michigan State Senate. The GOP meddled in the primary to boost one of his opponents, but the effort failed to stop Greene from advancing.

we need every grain of sand in the gears. every single one.

This email between Epstein and JD Vance’s tech oligarch benefactor Peter Thiel where they plan to “collapse” society to create investment opportunities for themselves seems… not great

(They also met with the UN ambassador to Russia together)

Time to Ask if Stephen Miller Has Authorized Assault and Murder of Peaceful ICE Observers - emptywheel Given how consistently Greg Bovino is at the scene of unjustified violence against ICE observers, including today's shooting, and given Bovino's refusal to answer whether Stephen Miller has given him ...

Ah, @annabower.bsky.social, I already wrote that post.

Stephen Miller.

It's Stephen Miller.

emptywheel.net/time-to-ask-...

Newbury Street tally: BFD reports six manholes on Newbury Street exploded. Four buildings and sidewalks between Clarendon and Gloucester evacuated as a precaution. No injuries.
www.universalhub.com/2026/newbury...

#Boston

🧵 At 3pm ET today, I'll be live-posting highlights from the public forum for @lawfaremedia.org.

This will some witnesses' very first public appearance and the only one for Brent and Luke Ganger, who do not plan to do any additional interviews.

Follow this thread for updates as they happen 🧵👇

This woman has shown more courage than the nominal leaders of the Democratic Party.

🚨REMINDER: 3 years ago today a Norfolk Southern train—carrying 1.1. million pounds of cancerous vinyl chloride—derailed in East Palestine, OH & sparked mass chemical fire. Days later, NS IGNORED REPEATED EXPERT ADVICE NOT TO DETONATE 5 cars carrying vinyl chloride...

happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.

His L’s for the week

Did you just get the most massive case of the creeps in your life when reading that omfg

I hadn’t known this. Two men who were accused of sexual abuse on the Shitty Media Men document that I created back in 2017 reached out to Michael Wolff for help as they looked to sue me, and Wolf forwarded their concerns to Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein offered to help. www.jmail.world/thread/EFTA0...

Musk’s social media platform X raided by Paris prosecutor | CNN Business A search was being carried out at the French offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X as part of an investigation opened in January 2025, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.

www.cnn.com/2026/02/03/b...

BREAKING: A search was being carried out at the French offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X as part of an investigation opened in January 2025, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.

I should not have to say this but if you are a legal observer your job is not to go snitch on any and all illegal things.

Your job is SPECIFICALLY AND EXCLUSIVELY to record law enforcement brutality, illegality, and overreach.

It is ABSOLUTELY NOT to snitch on protests you find too spicy.

Paris prosecutors raid France offices of Elon Musk's Twitter/X

NEW: Offices belonging to Elon Musk's social media platform Twitter/X in France are being raided 🚨

Guy who runs the Mass Daily News account is Mike Urban. He’s a failed real estate agent and owes over $160k unpaid taxes.

Instant follow 🤣

Important: Georgia Fort is President of the Center for Broadcast Journalism and was “one of two journalists in the courtroom when Derek Chauvin was sentenced.”

Her arrest, and the others, are a targeted assault on journalism by a white supremacist hate group that has infiltrated the US government.

Every day Mamdani comes out and is like "hey guys, I turned off the orphan-crushing machine. Literally just had to flip a switch. Took less than 5 minutes."

After decades of dem leadership pissing and moaning and fundraising about how complex an issue it is and how difficult the process is etc

Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler sought Jeffrey Epstein’s help to secure a top job at Facebook just months before the sex offender’s arrest, and advised him on how to respond to press coverage of his crimes. ft.trib.al/P3CyJeg

Turning Point USA has followed through on its promise (threat?) to counter-program Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show with a concert of its own and the most unsurprising headliner imaginable: Kid Rock.

🔗 bit.ly/3ZJ7LP8

Not to take away from the core issue at all - but TY to @greenpeace.org for paying real people to create real work

And yes - the companies that are actively killing organised sport shouldn't be the ones using it as free advertising for their products -->>>>>

US judge halts Trump plan to end protections for 350,000 Haitians A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from revoking legal protections for more than 350,000 Haitians, preventing their potential deportation to a country that has been ravaged by ...

Oh hell yes.

www.reuters.com/world/us-jud...

"On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1 More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet].

So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) “damn” countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90 Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination). Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.” They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) ¶ 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. ¶ 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. ¶ 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. ¶ 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. ¶ 5. They claim that Secretary Noem’s decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law. Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary’s decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI. Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely. Secretary Noem

has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up, twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all. See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id. The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes, the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary, Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A. As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot]

Dkt. 100 (§ 705 Reply) at 20–21.4 “Do not travel to Haiti for any reason” does not exactly scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return. And so, the Government studiously does not argue that Plaintiffs will suffer no harm if removed to Haiti. Instead, it argues Plaintiffs will not certainly suffer irreparable harm because DHS might not remove them. But this fails to take Secretary Noem at her word: “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” See Section IV.B.2.b. Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959 lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of them. For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.

Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.

It's a tour de force:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Political scientists here have rightly been dunking on other academic fields in which prominent figures appeared in the Epstein Files, but here's a prominent political scientist in the Epstein Files .... shaming the shit out of them.

Any and every David gif is my favorite