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Thursday, January 4, 2024

1/4 WAKE-UP CALL: 'Clinton Likes Them Young'


New York federal court documents containing previously hidden names of people associated in some way with the late notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein began being unsealed Wednesday evening. Many of the more than 150 people named in the civil court filings have previously been publicly disclosed as connected in some way with Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges. The documents were filed in connection with a Manhattan federal court lawsuit by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre against Epstein’s longtime accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. The fact that peoples’ names appear in the files does not necessarily mean they engaged in wrongdoing.

Only Epstein and Maxwell have been criminally charged in connection with his longstanding abuse of girls and young women at residences in New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands and elsewhere. Preska has granted a 30-day extension barring the disclosure of two names, including a woman identified as Doe 107 to review her claim that she faces a risk of physical harm in her home country if her identity is publicly revealed. Maxwell is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence on charges related to recruiting and grooming young women to be abused by Epstein. 

Epstein for years had socialized with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, as well as Britain’s Prince Andrew and many other rich and powerful people. Jeffrey Epstein once said that former President Bill Clinton “likes them young,” a victim of the dead sex offender testified in a deposition unsealed Wednesday — part of a trove of long-sealed court documents that began to be made public.

The files were ordered released by Manhattan federal Judge Loretta Preska last month and contain a gross accusation of inappropriate touching by the disgraced British royal.  They were filed in a since-settled defamation lawsuit that Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre brought against the late sicko’s madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, in 2015. Another Epstein victim, Johanna Sjoberg, said in a 2016 deposition that the Duke of York put his hand on her breast as she sat on his lap at the financier’s Manhattan townhouse in 2001.  She also posed for a photo alongside Giuffre, whose breast was groped using a puppet of Andrew, Sjoberg testified.

➤TRUMP ASKS FOR SUPREME COURT RULING: Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to overturn a decision removing him from Colorado’s 2024 presidential primary ballot, his campaign said. The Centennial State’s highest court deemed him an insurrectionist because of his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and therefore ineligible to hold public office. 

The Supreme Court is widely expected to agree to hear the former president's appeal to provide clarity on his eligibility, which has divided state judges and officials. Trump’s lawyers say he was denied due process in the Colorado proceedings and is being penalized for constitutionally protected free speech. They argue the Colorado Supreme Court’s 4-3 ruling sets a dangerous precedent that could embolden state election officials around the country to disqualify candidates for partisan reasons.

➤DISORDER IN THE COURT: A Las Vegas judge was pounced on and attacked by a man during a hearing after she denied him bail. Judge Mary Kay Holthus from the Clark County District Court was mid-sentencing when convicted criminal Deobra Redden when he launched at her. 

Video footage shows the wild moment Redden leaped out from his seat and hopped into the judge's bench to tackle her. In the footage he can be heard repeatedly punching Holthus and screaming at her using explicit language, meanwhile, security officers attempted to restrain the crazed criminal.

➤BIDEN FACING REBELLION IN ADMINISTRATION: A senior official in the U.S. Education Department stepped down on Wednesday, citing President Joe Biden's handling of the conflict in Gaza, the latest sign of dissent in the administration as deaths continue to grow in the war. Also on Wednesday, 17 Biden re-election campaign staffers issued a warning in an anonymous letter that Biden could lose voters over the issue.

Tariq Habash, special assistant in the Education Department's Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, said: "I cannot stay silent as this administration turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed against innocent Palestinian lives, in what leading human rights experts have called a genocidal campaign by the Israeli government."

Habash, a Palestinian-American and an expert on student debt, was appointed early in Biden's presidency as part of a build-out of the Education Department's student loan expertise. The 17 anonymous Biden re-election campaign staffers, in their letter, published on Medium, urged Biden to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

➤U-S ISSUES 'FINAL WARNING': The U.S. and key allies issued what officials described as a final warning to the Houthi Yemeni rebel group to cease its attacks on Red Sea shipping. The U.S. military has prepared options to strike, U.S. officials say. That many Houthi weapons systems are mobile makes it challenging to strike targets. The Israel-Hamas war prompted the rebels to launch missiles and drones at Israel and ships in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, the killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in a suspected Israeli strike yesterday marked the biggest hit to the Palestinian militant group’s top leadership in years, taking out a key player who was responsible for aligning it with Iran and its proxies. His death in Beirut will likely hinder Hamas’s diplomatic efforts with key partners but won’t substantially affect the war in Gaza, military analysts said.

➤TERROR ATTACK IN IRAN: Nearly 100 people were killed at an event honoring former Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Wednesday in what local authorities and a senior White House official are calling a “terrorist” attack. Thousands of Iranians had gathered at Soleimani’s gravesite in Kerman to mark the fourth anniversary of his death, carrying photos of the former head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, when authorities say two bombs went off. 

The first explosion occurred just 700 meters from Soleimani’s grave, while the second was a kilometer away, Iranian national media reports. Graphic video shared online later showed the crowds running away as emergency crews responded, with bodies lying on the ground. The footage suggested that the second blast occurred some 15 minutes after the first — a tactic often used by terrorist groups to target emergency responders and increase the death toll.

➤LAWMAKERS VISIT SOUTHERN BORDER: House Speaker Mike Johnson led dozens of Republicans to the border in Texas on Wednesday, saying they got a first-hand look at the devastation of unprecedented illegal immigration and calling the situation “heartbreaking and infuriating.”

“One thing is absolutely clear: America is at a breaking point with record levels of illegal immigration,” said Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, who laid blame squarely at the feet of President Biden. The Republicans visited Eagle Pass, a border town that’s been the epicenter of the chaos. Just days ago, thousands of migrants had jumped the border and created a squatters’ camp demanding to be processed and released.


The flow of people dried up on Wednesday, which Rep. Tony Gonzalez, the Texas Republican hosting the GOP lawmakers’ visit, said was likely due to the delegation’s presence. He said it was proof that the smuggling cartels can turn on and off the flow of people at will — and evidence that the U.S. needs to get tougher on those cartels. The House Judiciary Committee reported that the cartels that control migrant traffic into Eagle Pass and surrounding areas make $32 million a week in smuggling fees. At about 10,000 migrants a week, that works out to an average payment of $3,200 per person, or nearly $1.7 billion a year.


➤9 STATE CAPITOL BUILDINGS EVACUATED: At lease nine state capitol buildings across the U.S. were evacuated yesterday after bomb threats were emailed to state officials. Capitol buildings were cleared in Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, and Montana. The threats were apparently a hoax. The FBI is working with local authorities to investigate.

➤KENNEDY QUALIFIES FOR UTAH BALLOT: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Junior has qualified for the ballot in Utah. The state allows a candidate who collects 1,000 signatures to be listed. Kennedy is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He is an environmental lawyer and an anti-vaccination activist.

➤ROUGH FLU SEASON AHEAD: The flu season is turning out to be a tough one, especially in the Southeast and parts of the Western U.S., according to NBC News. Thirty-three states are reporting “high” to “very high” counts of flu-like illnesses, including 4,500 deaths. The illness took hold in Louisiana around Thanksgiving and has since spread to very high levels in much of the South and parts of the West.
  • CHECK IT OUT: Click here for a map of the outbreak coast to coast.

➤AUTO SALES BOUNCE BACK: Many car companies reported double-digit sales gains, marking a return to normalcy after a wild ride that started at the beginning of the pandemic. Pent-up demand and better availability on dealership lots revved up automakers’ results with minimal impact from this fall’s six-week United Auto Workers strike. Electric-vehicle sales continued to rise, but at a slower rate than in the previous year. Analysts say industrywide sales of new cars in the U.S. could reach nearly 15.5 million in 2023, about a 13% increase from the prior year, once all car companies have released their figures.

➤FORD RECALLS SOME F-150s: Ford has recalled about 113,000 of its top-selling F150 pickup trucks over concerns about a rear axle hub. The recall applies to some 2021 to 2023 pickups that came equipped with the Trailer Tow Max Duty package and a 9.75-inch heavy duty axle with a ¾ float axle design.

➤GM OFFERS INCENTIVES ON EV MODELS: General Motors is offering a $7,500 incentive to buyers of some new electric models that have lost their eligibility for a federal tax credit in the same amount. Meanwhile, GM says it is changing the suppliers of some components so that its electric models will soon regain eligibility for the tax credit. The changes will be made to brands including Chevy, GMC and Cadillac. The federal tax credit is restricted to vehicles that are built using mainly U.S.-made parts.

➤JOB MARKET COOLS A BIT: The red-hot job market is cooling down a bit, according to the latest figures from the Labor Department. There were 8.79 million job openings in November. That’s the lowest number since March 2021. Economists say it’s a sign of a “soft landing” for the economy, not a recession..

🏈MAHOMES AND FLACCO ARE RESTING UP: Two top quarterbacks are sitting out their teams’ Week 18 games. Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs won’t play in the finale Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. Blaine Gabbert will start. Joe Flacco of the Cleveland Browns will sit out Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Jeff Driskel will start for the Browns. Both teams have their playoff positioning locked up.

⚾RAYS’ WANDER FRANCO CHARGED IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is being accused by prosecutors in the Dominican Republic of sexual exploitation and money laundering. The charges relate to Franco’s alleged relationship with an underage girl. A judge is expected to rule tomorrow on whether Franco will be allowed to leave the Dominican Republic while the investigation continues. He has been in jail since Monday. Major League Baseball placed Franco on administrative leave in August.

📺MICHIGAN’S ROSE BOWL WIN DREW BIG RATINGS: Michigan’s Rose Bowl victory over Alabama drew the biggest ratings of any non-NFL sporting event since 2018. A peak audience of more than 32 million viewers watched the Wolverines defeat the Crimson Tide 27-20 on New Year’s Day.




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