The Corrupt Roots of America’s Elite Run Deep
INSIDE: Jeffrey Epstein ... Donald Trump ... Mike Johnson
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
It’s the Impunity, Stupid
In reviewing a portion of the 20,000-plus Jeffrey Epstein emails released yesterday, I was left astonished not so much by the chumminess he enjoyed with elites even after he’d served time for soliciting prostitution with a minor but by the messages’ flagrantness, their casual disregard, and their indifference to consequence.
It was perfectly captured by political scientist Ed Burmila: “The crisis of elite impunity that is ruining our society cannot be more clearly or convincingly demonstrated than with the fact that all of these people wrote all this stuff into an email and hit Send.”
Impunity. That’s the word I was looking for.
It is the same impunity that got us Trump. Like Epstein, Trump built a career on a transactional chumminess, mutual self-indulgence, and an alarmingly high tolerance level for misbehavior by the layers of political, business, media, and cultural elites surrounding him.
At it’s most extreme, the misbehavior manifested in both men as abusive sexual misconduct. It’s one of the oddities of this whole spectacle that the question is whether Trump — already an admitted pussy grabber, held liable as a sexual assaulter, and prone to traipsing through his pageant dressing rooms to gawk at young flesh — was also engaged in another kind of sexual misconduct, as if stacking revelations high enough will finally overcome the elite impunity that’s cosseted Trump for more than 40 years.
The Epstein Files
Before sampling some of the latest release, one important point: The Epstein emails released yesterday are not the files the White House is fighting so hard to keep from coming out. The only reasonable conclusion is that they must be even worse for Trump than what we’ve seen so far. And so far has been pretty bad:
Politico: Jeffrey Epstein, in newly released email, says Trump ‘knew about the girls’
WaPo: Epstein wrote that Trump knew of sexual abuse but didn’t participate
NYT: After Trump Split, Epstein Said He Could ‘Take Him Down’
Politico: Jeffrey Epstein claimed he gave Russians insight into Trump
NYT: Epstein Bantered Regularly With Larry Summers
Damage Control Gone Wrong
The tranche of emails released yesterday came from the Epstein estate in response to an August subpoena from the GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee, which sought the emails as a way of tamping down right-wing outrage over the Trump DOJ not releasing its Epstein files. So this started as a damage control effort.
Early Wednesday, House Democrats released three choice emails from the tranche. House Republicans accused them of cherry-picking the emails, and, in an apparent attempt to muddy the waters, released the entire tranche of 20,000+ documents. Another effort of damage control gone very wrong.
What Happens in the Situation Room Stays in the Situation Room
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a press secretary give away the game more completely than Karoline Leavitt did in her answer to questions about the White House pressure campaign to block the Epstein discharge petition in the House. It’s like the criminal defense attorney inadvertently revealing the defendant’s presence at the crime scene:
What’s Next in the Epstein Files Saga?
In one of her first acts as a member of Congress, newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) signed the discharge petition to force a vote demanding that the Trump DOJ release the Epstein files. Here’s a primer on how that will play out.
But remember Senate Republicans and the White House won’t go along with the House on this, so the Epstein files aren’t going to suddenly be released. The ultimate “win” here is the damaging floor vote in the House, probably next week. It drives a rare wedge between Trump and House GOPers eager to placate right-wing supporters whose feverish conspiracies about a cabal of elites trafficking in child sex turns out not to have been wrong, just wildly misdirected at Democrats.
Government Shutdown Officially Ends
The House passed the continuing resolution to end the government shutdown, and President Trump signed it late last night in an Oval Office ceremony (where he ignored questions about the Epstein files).
A Rare Display of Bipartisanship
The bipartisan outrage, especially in the House, over the provision in the shutdown deal that allows eight GOP senators to sue because Special Counsel Jack Smith lawfully obtained their phone records wasn’t enough to sink the package, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he will circle back next week and try to repeal the provision.
As Politico first reported, the language of the provision was provided by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), but according to the WaPo, it was “part of an agreement” between Thune and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY).
The Purges: Miami USAO Edition
Miami is ground zero for the what appears to be the widest ranging retributive investigation against President Trump’s foes dating all the way back to the 2016 election. The precise contours of that investigation of the investigators remains a bit murky, but news reports have it initially focusing on former CIA Director John Brennan and others who investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Miami U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones, who is leading the probe, is already cracking down on prosecutors who don’t fall in line, Bloomberg reports:
South Florida’s chief prosecutor Jason Reding Quiñones and his leadership team effectively forced resignations of two newcomer assistant US attorneys last week by ordering them to sign statements under criminal penalty of perjury, some of the individuals said.
They both chose to quit rather than disclose in writing—with the threat of being indicted over misstatements—the names of colleagues and others with whom they’d discussed their recent assignment to a national security unit expected to target those involved in past cases against President Donald Trump.
There’s no indication the two junior prosecutors had done anything wrong, according to the report:
The two resigning prosecutors, both Republicans who started at the office in 2024, never communicated with the media or shared classified or top-secret information, the individuals said. Rather, they’d sought professional advice from more senior colleagues in and outside the office about whether to accept a politically charged assignment.
Trump Is the Easiest Mark
ProPublica: The Misleading Story Fox News Told About Portland Before Trump Sent Troops
Venezuela Watch
In a classified memo produced over the summer, DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel declared that personnel taking part in military strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in Latin America would not be exposed to future prosecution, the WaPo reports.
French foreign minister says U.S. strikes in the Caribbean violate international law.
Canadian foreign minister is emphatic that her country as “no involvement” in the U.S. strikes.
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I read my first TPM blog post on December 12 2000 and have been a part of the community ever since.