The Daily Populous Friday February 13rd, 2026 evening edition
Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by Andechser

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Joe Rogan has once again ripped into the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files and the president’s repeated assertions that they are a “hoax,” following the latest batch of released documents by the Department of Justice.

“None of this is good for this administration. It looks f****** terrible,” the podcaster and MMA commentator said during Thursday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. “It looks terrible for Trump, when he was saying that none of this was real, this is all a hoax. This is not a hoax.”

Rogan’s comments follow the latest document dump by the DOJ, which delivered over three million files, including 180,000 pictures and 2,000 videos on January 30. But many details of potential co-conspirators of the convicted sex offender remained redacted.

Under pressure from Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna the DOJ unredacted the names of at least six “wealthy, powerful men,” including Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.

Thee files revealed Epstein and the Emirati billionaire had shared years of correspondence, discussing sex and sharing links to fetish websites, including one particularly disturbing email in which Epstein told bin Sulayem he “loved the torture video.”

Joe Rogan has once again ripped into the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files and the president’s repeated assertions that they are a ‘hoax’ ( The Joe Rogan Experience/ Spotify )

Being named in the files does not suggest wrongdoing and Sulayem has not been charged with a crime in connection with Epstein. Searches suggest his name is included more than 5,000 times in the files.

“What the f*** man?” Rogan said, in response to the particular exchange with bin Sulayem. “And why is his name redacted? Why would your name be redacted if you're not a victim? Like, this is what's crazy about all this.

“How come you redact some people and you don't redact other people? Like, what is this? This is not good.”

Rogan, whose podcast has 14.5 million followers on Spotify, has been both critical and supportive of Trump, even inviting him onto the show during the 2024 presidential election campaign. But in recent months the podcaster has been more vocal in his disapproval of certain policy areas including the heavy crackdown on immigration by federal authorities.

Appearing to give the president the benefit of the doubt, Rogan continued: “Maybe he didn't know, if you want to be charitable, but this is definitely not a hoax.

“And if you’ve redacted people's names and these people aren't victims, you're not protecting the victim. So what are you doing? And how come all this s*** is not released?”

The significant redactions have sparked huge outrage on both sides of the political aisle.

As a result the DOJ announced that members of Congress would be allowed to view the fully unredacted files in-person. Lawmakers from both parties have been reviewing the unredacted files since they became available Monday.

Democratic Congressmen Jamie Raskin as well as Khanna and Massie were among those to visit the DOJ on to review the remaining files via a secure terminal.

One of Epstein’s victims was just nine years old, according to Raskin, while Massie said that files he had viewed suggested that a senior official in a foreign government was allegedly involved in his sex trafficking network.

LostMyInvite on February 13rd, 2026 at 12:06 UTC »

He was BARELY critical. He said it doesn't look good and "maybe Trump didn't know" despite Trump's name appearing a million times. He's playing both sides.

reddittorbrigade on February 13rd, 2026 at 12:03 UTC »

Trump and his Nazi supporters think that it is a hoax when Trump is involved. With Bill Clinton, it is not a hoax.

That is how crazy they are.

cmiller4642 on February 13rd, 2026 at 12:01 UTC »

He endorsed him harder than anyone... not to mention UFC is the Trump sport.