The Daily Populous Monday November 24th, 2025 day edition
Authored by ms.now and submitted by plz-let-me-in

Epstein survivor warns Trump, DOJ not to underestimate how much Americans want the Epstein files 06:22

Trump’s ‘leading a massive cover up’ of Epstein and GOP is ‘complicit’: Top Oversight Dem 07:46

‘Chaotic’ American negotiating team sends mixed message back to U.S. on Ukraine peace talks 09:01

Changing Winds? Why Democrats need to jump on the economy messaging bandwagon 07:17

‘Threats are very, very real’: Ex-DHS official says Trump is serious about wanting Democrats jailed 11:34

U.S. negotiators confuse everyone over peace talk plan in spite of Rubio’s positive spin 06:08

Rubio: ‘This is the best meeting we’ve had so far’ on ending Ukraine war 04:26

Former New York City Mayor de Blasio: Trump used Mamdani meeting to distract from Epstein files 11:44

Trump battered by series of bad polls on the economy as positive messaging fails to stick 04:57

Choice-of-SteinsGate on November 24th, 2025 at 00:44 UTC »

Americans would be much more likely to believe that Trump's latest reversal is genuine if his administration, alongside the DOJ and Republicans in Congress weren't making every kind of effort over the last several months to run interference for Trump, delay votes, withhold information and divert attention away from this scandal and the president's deep ties to the world's most notorious child sex trafficker.

Republicans—predominantly Mike Johnson—even used the government shutdown as an excuse to suppress and delay the disclosure of Epstein related documents.

Johnson deliberately delayed swearing in congresswoman Grijalva in order to prevent her from being the yes needed on a discharge petition that would force a vote on the further release of Epstein material.

And in response to Democrats releasing emails obtained by the Epstein estate recently, Trump ordered Republicans to not authorize any additional disclosures. Mere days had passed when Trump completely changed his tune. How does this not arouse suspicions?

And bear in mind that Trump always had the authority to order the release of these documents, but instead chose to pass that responsibility onto others. It speaks volumes that this is one of the few times that Trump didn't exercise his unilateral powers.

Now, before I continue, I want to address a common whataboutism from Trump supporters who demand to know why "Biden/Democrats didn't release the files," which is almost always asked in bad faith as part of a not-so-subtle attempt to try to exonerate Trump of wrongdoing.

First, the current controversy doesn't revolve around past inaction, but around Trump's efforts to stall and block the release of Epstein materials. It's also centered around his flagrantly corrupt behavior throughout this whole fiasco; his consolidation of legal and prosecutorial powers under a DOJ that is now beholden to him; his administration's utter lack of transparency; and Trump's inconsistencies in the face of political pressures. In other words, stop deflecting Trump supporters.

That said, and contrary to what conservatives claim, Democrats did call for transparency and pushed for the release of Epstein related records as early as 2019, and even continued pressing for information through Biden's term.

Democrats even requested hearings and pressured the DOJ for accountability, despite facing legal and bureaucratic obstacles.

Moreover, Democrats did not have unilateral authority over the release of the "Epstein files" during Biden's presidency.

Documents related to the investigation were held under the authority of the Department of Justice, and a DOJ that was not stripped of its independence and undemocratically faithful to the president like it is now.

Ongoing investigations, privacy concerns and strict legal constraints prevented their release and/or slowed the process. At the time, president Biden couldn't just publicly disclose sensitive materials and case files without obstructing investigations and violating statutes.

It's also important to note that Epstein was not at the center of the cultural and political conversation during Biden's campaign. Not like it was for Trump in the run up to the 2024 election.

Epstein's arrest and death had just occurred while Trump was president in 2019, but in 2020, and in case you need a reminder, the country was undergoing an economic and global health crisis, which was only made worse by Trump's mishandling of the pandemic and his kleptocratic policies that ballooned the debt and deficit. Not to mention January 6th and a national discussion about political violence and extremism that followed. Priorities were focused elsewhere to say the least.

Moving on...

After months of trying desperately to bury this scandal, Trump is now publicly reversing his stance because his DOJ has made sure to comb through and selectively omit every document, every word, every piece of evidence that could implicate him and anyone he's trying to protect.

if you think Trump and his DOJ will approve the release of anything remotely transparent, then I have some Trump meme coin to sell you.

It's already been reported that the FBI was tasked with digging through thousands of pages of Epstein related materials to search for any mention of Trump and take note. Suspicious indeed.

It's also telling that it took ten months for Republicans to unanimously vote in favor of releasing whatever information the DOJ finds adequate enough to placate the base. And only after their ringleader gave them the okay. Prior to that, the goal was to obstruct at all costs at the behest of Trump.

This distraction effort included political stunts and diversions like when the DOJ tried to manufacture "treasonous" charges against Obama while justice department officials were privately courting Ghislaine Maxwell at the same time.

Trump even sued the WSJ for releasing the infamous birthday letter:

> The letter concludes: "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret."

How can any sensible person believe that Trump's about-face reflects a desire for full disclosure or even sympathy for the victims?

And the answer to this rhetorical question should be made more evident by the fact that the Trump administration has spent the better part of his term dismantling independent oversight, obfuscating facts and data and putting up barriers to transparency.

Not accounting for Trump's own desperate efforts to sweep this scandal under the rug since it was first revealed that his administration had no intention of releasing the "Epstein files."

Or his constant politicizing of the "files" and his insistence that the whole thing is just another "democratic hoax."

Trump has also contradicted himself on this matter repeatedly. First there were binders full of files, then there weren't, but Republicans were also releasing carefully selected documents of their own, much of which was previously made public.

Then his administration signaled that the investigation was basically over, but his deputy AG and personal lawyer went to Florida to interview Ghislaine Maxwell in private under the guise of learning more about Epstein's crimes, but it was really just an effort to orchestrate a cover up with Maxwell in exchange for clemency and a transfer to a cushy, low security, white collar prison nicknamed "club fed."

Reports came out revealing that Trump's name appeared in the documents, but Trump continued insisting that it was all a "hoax" while at the same time urging investigations into Democrats who are included in the documents that supposedly never existed in the first place.

Fox News even deliberately edited Trump's response during an interview when he was asked if he would release the "Epstein client list."

> "Yeah, I think we should release it. People deserve to know."

Fox left out his follow up:

> "But you have to understand, there’s a lot of lies in that list. A lot of names that shouldn’t be there. You don’t want to ruin innocent lives."

And now you expect me to believe that Trump's sudden reversal and the GOP's conveniently timed change of heart are even remotely sincere? Give me a break.

Time_Cranberry_113 on November 24th, 2025 at 00:23 UTC »

In other breaking news, water is wet

fairoaks2 on November 23rd, 2025 at 23:41 UTC »

No surprise. He’s a molester enabler. I think he’s more worried about finances being exposed.