Epstein bombshell! Files bust Trump WH LIES, Musk BEGS for Island Party, emails OUT Lutnick, Bannon

For all the things that aren't working,

the DOJ has been forced to release far more Epstein files than they ever planned to. We got millions on Friday that shed light

on Epstein's powerful circle, including individuals with close ties to both parties and the current President Donald Trump.

Thousands of messages with Steve Bannon.

Two hours of new footage, never before seen, although we'd reported on its existence.

Bannon interviewing Epstein.

They had become allies of sorts.

Bannon trying to help rehab Epstein's reputation.

This was shot in 2019.

Do you think you're the devil himself?

No, but I I do have a good mirror.

It's a serious question.

Do you think you're the devil himself?

I don't know. Why would you say that?

Because you have all the attributes. You're incredibly smart. You remember

What?

The devil is brilliant. You read, you read Milton's Paradise Lost.

No, the devil scares me.

The video goes on like that.

Bannon never actually put out what he said was going to be that project.

Maybe obvious reasons why.

A current Trump cabinet member, Howard Lutnick,

appears in email exchanges that discuss a potential trip to Epstein's Island.

This was in 2012.

Along with his family on a vacation.

But it was years after Lutnick has publicly claimed that he had cut all ties with Epstein.

These files, which otherwise would never have come out, appearing to undercut what was a Lutnick strategy.

Why?

One would think he would remember this effort to be in contact with him.

There are other names like Brett Ratner, who directed the Melania documentary

that Amazon paid so much for and just came out.

He's in a photograph with Epstein and an unidentified woman.

Or a big, powerful law firm, Paul Weiss,

has its chair, Brad Karp.

They recently struck one of those big deals, giving millions to Trump last year

through pro bono work.

And he had what seemed to be friendly interactions with Epstein.

Paul Weiss now says he regrets them.

Trump also, of course, is in the files.

The New York Times says over 5,000 times with references to Trump and Mar-a-Lago and there were other related words about their family.

As for Trump, Bannon, Lutnick, and Ratner, we should note,

these new disclosures don't involve any criminal wrongdoing.

Uh, more just violations of their own statements or claims to have cut ties with Epstein.

Republican lawmakers are also focused on the Clintons.

There is now a deal afoot to have them give a deposition about all this.

All eyes also on Maxwell,

Epstein's convicted associate.

She will be deposed on Monday.

That comes after the DOJ held a very unusual and suspicious meeting

between the Deputy Attorney General and her.

Uh, the Trump DOJ also, under the same individual,

Todd Blanche, had this to say.

We will always investigate any evidence of misconduct.

But as you know, it is not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.

And and so as horrible as it, it's not a crime to email with Mr. Epstein.

The American people need to understand that it it isn't a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.

It isn't a crime to have

Didn't look like that's all that was going on in some of those photos.

You could hear a little Fox News pushback on Todd Blanche's talking point.

It's true, there shouldn't be guilt by association.

Being in the emails or at a quote party is not itself a crime.

But the problem is how this Trump DOJ seems to have avoided pursuing any leads.

We now have a chart that we reported on Friday showing all the potential associates of Mr. Epstein.

Only one, Maxwell, actually prosecuted.

Here's Congressman Khanna.

At the very least, every single person who went to Epstein's Island

should have an investigation.

Just to say, oh, these were just rich people who were playboys.

That's just disrespectful to these survivors.

We are still in the journalistic community going through what are millions of documents, files,

photos, videos, and we will continue reporting out what we know in context.

Anyone who believes that I'm getting out, please shove the bunting up your ass.

This is not the end.

I'm going to build something better.

Something faster, lighter, meaner, wilder.

Conservative mogul Rupert Murdoch has been memorably captured by HBO's hit Succession.

A show that satirizes politics,

media, billionaire excess with characters clearly based on the Murdochs.

And a cable news channel drawing on aspects of Fox News,

including how even the so-called owners can sometimes lose control of the very passions they unleash in their audience.

Murdoch built a media empire originally on newspapers and TV,

then bought up some prestige outlets like the Wall Street Journal, fusing a business style with his own right-wing agenda.

You had the will to crush the unions.

No, I didn't have the will to crush the unions.

I might have had the desire.

Um, but that took several years.

I didn't, I did, it just took a while.

Murdoch, of course, wrote the global business playbook, which many copy now.

Trotting into different countries, deploying media assets quite blatantly as political leverage, not independent journalism.

He oversaw companies that break all kinds of rules.

Media outlets caught for illegally hacking into a child's phone.

That proved too much even in the rough British tabloid world.

Fox News has paid out for sexual harassment at the very top.

And then the record $780 million punishment for lies about Trump's 2020 loss.

Critics say those are terrible acts by powerful companies.

Some capitalists say Fox paid a lot more for those lies than it ever made on them.

At least in the short term.

And Politico's marvel at how Murdoch built an empire that doesn't just cover governments,

but quite literally helps pick some of them.

Beyond a conservative news empire, he erected a fourth branch of government.

His propaganda machine monetized outrage, spread conspiracy theories, and shaped the minds of millions across three continents.

More than anyone, Murdoch's media created the presidency of Donald J. Trump.

Writes Gabe Sherman, the author of a new book about the mogul,

which explores something else that we're about to get into.

How all that power didn't enable Murdoch to really pump the brakes on Trump.

When Murdoch finally concluded that maybe things had gone too far,

nor could he even maintain an orderly succession for his replacement in the empire,

let alone family peace.