Trump's Birthday Gift to Epstein Is Deeply Sus - The Friday AM Quickie 7/18/25
Rough week for the high-fructose corn syrup lobby. We've come a long way from the days when consuming Karo syrup was a patriotic duty. I'm out for the weekend, Whitney's back Monday. - Corey
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THE BIG NEWS
Trump Gift Shows He Shared 'Wonderful Secret' with Epstein
We already knew that Donald Trump and the late serial sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein were friends. We've heard them praise – and disparage – one another in public. We've seen video of them together looking lascivious at private parties. But so far there's been a dearth of information connecting Trump to Epstein's criminal enterprise and the sexual exploitation of trafficked girls and young women. That changed last night, when the Wall Street Journal reported the existence of a highly suspicious gift that Trump gave to Epstein on his 50th birthday in 2003.
The gift was an entry in a celebratory album prepared for Epstein by his now-imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Per the Journal:
"The letter bearing Trump’s name, which was reviewed by the Journal, is bawdy—like others in the album. It contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president's signature is a squiggly 'Donald' below her waist, mimicking pubic hair."
That's some detail. The story continues:
"It isn't clear how the letter with Trump’s signature was prepared. Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person.
"'Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything,' the note began.
"Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is.
"Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is.
"Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.
"Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it.
"Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?
"Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.
"Donald: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret."
"Enigmas never age"? "Another wonderful secret"? What the hell is this? It reads almost like a Qanon fever dream.
"This is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story," Trump told the conservative paper, not long before announcing his plans to sue. "I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women. It's not my language. It's not my words."
As much as Trump, the Congressional GOP, and far-right propagandists wish the Epstein story would go away, it only seems to be gaining momentum. Trump's former White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, tells Al Jazeera that Trump is "in the files" on Epstein, along with prominent Democrats. Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin suggests that Trump wanted to keep those files for his own nefarious purposes – perhaps blackmail.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the finance committee, has been investigating Epstein's financial network for the past three years. Wyden's staff uncovered "filings by four big banks [that] flagged more than $1.5 billion in transactions — including thousands of wire transfers for the purchase and sale of artwork for rich friends, fees paid to Mr. Epstein by wealthy individuals, and payments to numerous women." So it seems, contrary to the claims of Trump's hack Attorney General Pam Bondi, that Epstein did have "clients," of a sort. Was Trump one of them?
Whether or not he's implicated in Epstein's trafficking operation, Trump's ability to manage this coverup appears to be faltering.
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
CBS Cancels Colbert After He Calls Out Parent Company's Trump Bribe
On Monday, CBS "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert delivered a monologue dissing his network's parent company, Paramount Global, for agreeing to pay $16 million to Donald Trump as a legal settlement for a meritless libel complaint the company would have certainly won in court. Paramount's chair, Shari Redstone, wants the Trump regime to sign off on a multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media. "It's a big fat bribe," Colbert told his audience. Yesterday, CBS said it is canceling "the Late Show" when Colbert's contract expires next May, calling it "purely a financial decision" that "is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount." Nobody's buying that. Colbert's heroism stands in stark contrast to his employers' cowardice. In a functioning country, people would be going to jail over this.
New Republican Plan for Retirement Savings: Crypto
The House yesterday passed two key pieces of legislation to set up weak regulation of the scam-soaked cryptocurrency industry and allow the shaky investments to spread throughout the financial system. Donald Trump, who personally profits from several crypto scams, is expected to sign the Genius Act promoting misnamed "stablecoins" today, the New York Times reports, soon to be followed by the Clarity Act, which crypto lobbyists call "absolutely the most important thing we have been pushing for." Dozens of Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, joined Republicans to enrich the crypto lobby. Vergogna!
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that Trump is preparing an executive order that will "open the $9tn US retirement market to cryptocurrency investments, gold, and private equity in a move that would spur a radical shift in the way Americans’ savings are managed." Long story short, investors will be able to sink 401(k) plans into crypto markets. Gulp. Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders has a better idea: Pensions for All.
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- Netanyahu Apologies for Deadly Bombing of Gaza Church After Trump Calls to Complain Meanwhile, video and satellite images show Israel has violated the Geneva Convention by demolishing thousands of civilian buildings across Gaza. via the New York Times and BBC News.
- ICE Gains Access to Private Medicaid Data of 79 Million People "They are trying to turn us into immigration agents," warns a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services worker. via the Associated Press, 404 Media, and the Los Angeles Times.
- Teamsters International Unwittingly Hires and Quickly Fires Notorious Neo-Nazi "They can suck d-ck," Peter Cytanovic said of his former employer when doorstepped by a reporter, "and you can get the f-ck out of here." via HuffPost.
- White House Discloses Trump Diagnosis: Chronic Venous Insufficiency, a Common – and Painful – Illness "Symptoms of CVI include aching, throbbing or a feeling of fatigue in the legs, said Chelsea Dorsey, the director of the Vein Clinic at UChicago Medicine. Swelling, skin discoloration and varicose veins are other signs, she said. Chronic cases can lead to complications, and in some cases, CVI can be a sign of a more serious condition such as problems with the heart, liver or kidneys, doctors said." via the Washington Post and Politico.
SOME NUMBER
16
That will be the new voting age in the United Kingdom, down from 18, by the next national election in 2029, under policies adopted by the ruling Labour Party yesterday. Conservatives oppose the change, which supporters say will boost turnout and strengthen democracy. "They're old enough to go out to work, they're old enough to pay taxes," Prime Minister Keir Starmer says. "And I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on, which way the government should go."
ON THE SHOW TODAY
7/18: Today’s guests are Francesca Fiorentini, comedian and host of the Bitchuation Room; and Heather 'Digby' Parton of the Hullabaloo Blog and Salon.com.
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
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The news media is missing it too, in large part.
PARTING WORDS
"This shouldn't be modern reality."
-- Anastasiya Zhyrmont of the Access Now digital rights group, speaking to the Associated Press about Russia's growing restrictions on the internet. The AP reports that cellphone internet shutdowns, which covered most of the country this week, are increasingly frequent, and often coincide with broadband outages. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that Russian lawmakers yesterday approved measures to fine people who bypass government blocks on information using virtual private networks to access search engines and other websites.
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