‘Pretty substantial distraction': Trump annoyed Epstein is dominating agenda but won't create ‘spectacle' with firings
Trump is said to be 'exasperated' by the scandal and is growing 'increasingly frustrated' with how his administration has handled the Epstein files saga and media attention on the president's ties to the sex offender, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting a federal sex trafficking trial.
'This is a pretty substantial distraction,' one person close to the situation told The Washington Post. 'While many are trying to keep the unity, in many ways, the DOJ and the FBI are breaking at the seams. Many are wondering how sustainable this is going to be for all the parties involved — be it the FBI director or attorney general.'
Trump is reportedly hesitant to fire anyone over the scandal. 'He does not want to create a bigger spectacle by firing anyone,' a person close to the president told the Post.
The president's exasperation was evident this weekend in Scotland after Trump was asked about Epstein at a press conference touting his latest trade deal with the European Union.
A reporter asked the president whether 'part of the rush to get this deal done was to knock Jeffrey Epstein's story out.'
'Oh, you've got to be kidding with that,' said Trump. 'No, it had nothing to do with it.'
Attorney General Pam Bondi for months pledged to release the Epstein files and claimed they were sitting on her desk. On July 6, the Justice Department and FBI issued a memo that poured cold water on the theory that Epstein kept a 'client list' and the departments would not be sharing any further documents in the case.
The memo ignited outrage among Trump's MAGA base and shows few signs of abating.
Bondi was not directly involved in writing the memo, according to the Post, but officials told the outlet that she did participate in conversations that led to its publication.
Trump, who has regularly indulged in conspiracy theories, also complained over the weekend that Democrats are too focused on conspiracy theories.
'All they know how to do is talk and think about conspiracy theories and nonsense,' Trump said during the meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 'If they'd waste their time talking about America being great again, it would be so much nicer.'
Critics said the fallout is one of the administration's own making. 'They completely miscalculated the fever pitch to which they built this up,' said Stephen A. Salzburg, a former Justice Department official who teaches at George Washington University's law school. 'Now, they seem to be in full-bore panic mode, trying to change the subject and flailing in an effort to make sense of what makes no sense.'
The Trump administration has tried to distract with other conspiracy theories. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been pushing claims that top Obama administration officials should be prosecuted for leading a 'coup' against the president in 2016 by investigating Russian efforts to help his campaign.
'She has turned herself into a weapon of mass distraction, is what I've been calling it,' Democratic Rep. Jason Crow told Fox News on Sunday.
The controversy has refused to die down after a Wall Street Journal report revealed the alleged existence of a 'bawdy' 50th birthday card from Trump to Epstein.
The president has denied the validity of the letter and has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the Journal's parent company Dow Jones and the two journalists whose bylines appear on the story.
Trump encouraged the media Friday to 'talk about Clinton, not Trump,' after the former president was also mentioned in the birthday book.
A Clinton spokesman declined to comment to the Journal and instead referred to a previous statement saying the former president's association with Epstein ended more than a decade before he was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. The statement also said Clinton didn't know about Epstein's crimes, the Journal reports.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Black couple plunged into violent racist nightmare after car accident on rural country road
A black married couple was allegedly threatened and chased by racist assailants down a rural Virginia road - resulting in a traumatizing car wreck. Amylah Majors, 23, and Jamaria Gaskins, 24, said they were viciously attacked and terrorized with a firearm on the evening of July 20 while traveling through Spotsylvania County. The wives were headed to Gaskins's mother's house when they pulled over to check out their car after running over debris and hearing a loud noise. A man spotted them and immediately came out of his home. He flashed them a 'thumbs up,' so the women thought he was going to help them with their car troubles. But instead of the assistance they were expecting, Majors and Gaksins were allegedly bombarded with racial slurs and violence. 'We were chased, threatened with firearms, and called racial slurs by three white individuals who acted as if they were part of a white supremacist group,' Majors wrote in a GoFundMe post. 'Two of them physically attacked my wife while brandishing a gun and shouting threats.' They were allegedly targeted by Mark Goodman, 59, and Elizabeth Wolfrey, 32, who both face charges regarding the horrifying attack. The third man has not been named because he was not charged, Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office Maj. Delbert Myrick told the Fredricksburg Free Press. Pictures from the ordeal showed Wolfrey sinisterly grinning as she waved a gun in the air. Goodman was captured pulling down his pants and showing his backside to Majors and Gaskins. Majors wrote the racist trio called her and her wife the 'n-word' and told them they 'didn't belong there.' As the culprits taunted and berated the couple, Gaskins was on the phone with the police. The situation escalated when Majors and Gaskins tried to flee the scene for safety. When they went to drive away, the tormenters allegedly started trailing them. 'One of them rode up beside us on a 4-wheeler and aimed a gun directly at my head through the driver's window,' Majors wrote. 'In that moment, we truly believed we weren't going to make it out alive.' In the midst of all the chaos, the women were 'chased into a crash' after Wolfrey allegedly flashed her gun at them again. Majors was ejected from their car. A shocking picture of the crashed vehicle showed the car completely totaled with its airbags deployed. Majors sustained severe injuries. According to her chilling retelling of the incident, she woke up in the hospital with a fractured spine and head injuries, as well as a broken clavicle and rib. She shared a photo of herself with bruising all over her face and swelling around her eye sockets from the impact of the crash. While Gaskins's injuries were less severe, both women are still suffering from concussions, according to the Fredricksburg Free Press. 'And yet - we're not paralyzed. We're not dead. That's nothing but God,' Majors wrote on the fundraiser page, which has already raised more than $1,735. 'This was not just an accident - this was an attempted act of violence meant to harm and silence us. 'This was hate. Targeted. Deliberate. And deadly. I'm not sharing this for sympathy - I'm sharing it because silence protects the people who did this.' Myrick told the outlet Wolfrey is charged with one count of pointing and brandishing a firearm and Goodman is charged with indecent exposure. There is an ongoing investigation to determine if more charges, such as hate crime, are going to be filed. 'The big thing we're trying to express is we understand the community's outrage, or concerns or anxiety over this incident and similar incidents that have arisen in the community,' Myrick said. 'We don't want racism. We don't want hate in our community. We want a happy community where everybody gets along.' Investigators reviewed footage that appears to be connected to the ordeal, according to a social media statement from the sheriff's office. This video allegedly captured the suspects using 'racially insensitive language and behavior' towards the victims. Sheriff Roger L. Harris said: 'On July 20, 2025, deputies from the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office responded to a reported dispute involving a firearm in the 4300 block of Partlow Road. 'During the course of the incident, a related motor vehicle crash also occurred. 'Deputies conducted a preliminary investigation at the scene, which resulted in two individuals being charged with Brandishing a Firearm and Indecent Exposure. 'The case remains active and is currently under investigation by the Criminal Investigations Division. Moe Petway, president of the Spotsylvania NAACP, said the organization is monitoring the investigation and is pushing for the couple to get the justice they deserve.' Wolfrey and Goodman are set for arraignment on September 20.
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
The New York Post is coming to California as News Corp CEO takes a pop at LA's ‘jaded' journalism
Rupert Murdoch is bringing his New York Post to the West Coast. In something of a surprise announcement Monday, News Corp. said that it will launch a new daily newspaper in Los Angeles early next year called The California Post, expanding on the brand of the nation's most-read tabloid. Besides being based in Los Angeles, the new outlet will feature what News Corp. is describing as a 'robust staff of editors, reporters and photographers dedicated to covering news, entertainment, politics, culture, sports and business,' adding that the paper will cover the news from a 'distinctly Californian perspective.' 'Los Angeles and California surely need a daily dose of The Post as an antidote to the jaundiced, jaded journalism that has sadly proliferated,' News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson said in Monday's announcement. 'We are at a pivotal moment for the city and the state, and there is no doubt that The Post will play a crucial role in engaging and enlightening readers, who are starved of serious reporting and puckish wit,' Thomson added. Thomson has tapped veteran journalist Nick Papps to be The California Post's editor-in-chief. Papps, who will report to the New York Post's top editor Keith Poole, has experience reporting in California as he served as News Corp Australia's West Coast correspondent for nearly three years. With the new addition to The New York Post Media Group, which was already home to the Post, Page Six and Decider, Thomson said that Poole's duties and oversight have now grown. 'I am also pleased that Keith Poole's remit is expanding, as he will now be responsible for covering not just New York, but California, the U.S., the world and, perhaps, Mars,' he quipped. 'This is the next manifestation of our national brand,' Poole said. 'California is the most populous state in the country, and is the epicenter of entertainment, the AI revolution and advanced manufacturing—not to mention a sports powerhouse. Yet many stories are not being told, and many viewpoints are not being represented.' He added: 'With The California Post, we will bring a common-sense, issue-based approach to metropolitan journalism. We'll tell the stories that our readers care about the most, but others overlook, and we'll do so with clarity and our trademark conviction, across print, digital and the platforms where audiences live today.' According to News Corp., Los Angeles is home to the second-largest concentration of Post readers – and California as a whole accounts for over seven million unique visitors a month to the paper's digital sites. On top of that, 90 percent of the Post's digital audience lives outside the New York area. The new California Post, which is scheduled to go live in early 2026, will include a daily print edition as well as dedicated web pages. The paper will also feature national coverage from the New York Post that is relevant to California readers. Based on the mock-up front pages the Post unveiled in its announcement of the new venture, the California Post will replicate the right-wing populist tone and tenor the Murdoch-owned tabloid is known for. It also appears that Page Six, the paper's influential gossip section, will be featured in the Golden State publication, based on the mock images. 'Our content is read everywhere from the corner store to the corner office,' NYPMG CEO Sean Giancola said, referencing the New York Post's status as America's oldest newspaper. 'We are trusted by millions for our direct and plain-spoken approach to news, and The New York Post has been the voice of the people in New York for 200 years,' he added. 'California is a vibrant, dynamic market where our unique journalistic ethos will resonate and engage audiences in meaningful ways.' It would also appear that News Corp. thinks the financial and editorial struggles that The Los Angeles Times has faced in recent years -- which have seen hundreds of staffers laid off and an present an opening for the Post to take some of that market.
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Judge rules that Rhode Island's gun permit system does not violate Second Amendment
A federal judge says Rhode Island 's gun permit system, which requires residents to show 'a need' to openly carry a firearm throughout the state, does not violate the Second Amendment. In a ruling handed down Friday, U.S. District Judge William Smith granted Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha's motion for summary judgment that dismisses a lawsuit filed by a coalition of gun owners in 2023. The lawsuit stems from a Rhode Island law dictating how the state issues firearms permits. According to the statute, local officials are required to issue concealed-carry permits to anyone who meets the specific criteria outlined in the statute. However, it also allows the attorney general's office to issue open-carry permits 'upon a proper showing of need.' Unlike municipalities, the attorney general is not required to issue such permits. The plaintiffs, largely led by Michael O'Neil, a lobbyist for the Rhode Island 2nd Amendment Coalition and a firearm instructor, said in their initial complaint that the attorney general's office denied all seven of their applications in 2021 for an 'unrestricted' firearm permit, allowing both open and concealed carry. Court documents show that the attorney general's office denied their permits because all of them had been granted 'restricted' permits, which only allowed concealed carry. Smith said in his ruling that unrestricted permits 'are a privilege and there is no constitutionally protected liberty interest in obtaining one.' The plaintiffs had hoped for a similar ruling handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, where the justices struck down a New York state law that had restricted who could obtain a permit to carry a gun in public. Similar to Rhode Island, New York's law had required residents to show an actual need to carry a concealed handgun in public for self-defense. Yet, notably, Smith said in his ruling that the high court's 2022 ruling did not declare that the Second Amendment 'requires open carry,' but even if it did, Rhode Island's law 'is within the Nation's historical tradition of regulation.' Frank Saccoccio, the attorney representing the gun owners, said in an email Monday that they did not believe Smith's decision was in line with the 2022 SCOTUS decision and would be appealing. An email seeking comment from the attorney general was sent on Monday.
