May 25, 2026

Kash Patel

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Maxwell, Jeffery Epstein’s former confidante and girlfriend, is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, obtained by the Washington Examiner, Durbin said the DOJ should not commit to offering a pardon or commutation of Maxwell’s sentence in exchange for information, crediting “serious questions about the potential for a corrupt bargain between the Trump administration and Ghislaine Maxwell.”

Durbin’s letter was also co-signed by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), another member of the Judiciary Committee.

However, since Democrats are in the minority and have no subpoena power, the letter may carry little weight with Blanche. The letter reflected how Democrats are trying to keep pressure on the Trump administration over the Epstein files, a matter that has upset many of President Donald Trump’s supporters.

The letter from Durbin said the meetings between Blanche and Maxwell were “highly unusual” and should have been conducted by line prosecutors with more knowledge of the case and those who better understand whether Maxwell was lying or telling the truth.

Durbin wrote that because Blanche conducted the interviews, it led him and Whitehouse to believe they were “another tactic to distract from DOJ’s failure to fulfill Attorney General Bondi’s commitment that the American people would see ‘the full Epstein files.’”

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A weird A-block report on NBC’s Sunday Nightly News makes crystal clear the urgency of narrative for the legacy media. In this instance, a dirty frame sets up a palette cleanser following the lead story- the consequential trade agreement between the United States and Europe announced at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland.

Watch as Sunday anchor Hallie Jackson repurposes the “distraction from Epstein” narrative in order to reclaim viewer focus:

HALLIE JACKSON: Even overseas, the president

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Ghislaine Maxwell returned to her federal holding cell on Friday with a mysterious box that she appeared to receive after speaking with prosecutors, leaving observers to wonder what she’d been handed.

Maxwell, 63, was seen shackled and accompanied by guards after meeting with Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday. She was transported in a white sedan back to the FCI Tallahassee prison complex, where she’s been serving a 20-year sentence on underage sex-trafficking charges since 2022.

Handcuffed and dressed in a brown prison jumpsuit, Maxwell was escorted through barbed wire fencing as a guard trailed behind her holding the box.

They and a second guard stood outside the building for nearly two minutes before being let inside.

Sources familiar with Thursday’s meeting said she had returned from the U.S. attorney’s office in Tallahassee, where she met with Blanche, a source said.

“Today, I met with Ghislaine Maxwell, and I will continue my interview of her tomorrow. The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time,” Blanche wrote on X after the meeting.

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Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus has said the deputy attorney general has finished his questioning for the day, NBC News reports.

“We started this morning right around 9 o’clock, and went to now lunchtime, and we’re finished after all day, yesterday and today, Ghislaine answered every single question asked of her over the last day and a half, she answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability. She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question,” Markus told reporters as he left the federal courthouse in downtown Tallahassee, Florida.

“They asked about every single, every possible thing you could imagine. Everything.”

The justice department has not said whether Blanche intends to question Maxwell further. Markus said he did not know whether the discussions would have any impact on her case.

We don’t know how it’s going to play out. We just know that this was the first opportunity she’s ever been given to answer questions about what happened and so the truth will come out about what happened with Mr Epstein, and she’s the person who’s answering those questions,” he said.

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The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is launching digital ads targeting a dozen Republican-held House districts, calling for the release of files related to financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

One ad features Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) calling the controversy a “serious issue” and saying that the highest volume of calls to her office have concerned the Epstein files, while another calls out the House GOP with the caption “House Republicans shut down Congress to bury the truth.”

A clip of President Trump standing next to Epstein plays in the background of the latter.

Both ads tell viewers to call their representatives and demand that the Epstein files are released.

Momentum had been building among Democrats and some Republicans for Congress to vote to force the Trump administration to release the documents related to the case. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced the body would start its summer recess a day early as Democrats sought to force votes in the Rules Committee to release the files, dividing Republicans.

Democrats have sought to use the lingering controversy as a way to go on offense against Trump and the Republican Party, accusing them of protecting pedophiles. The topic of the Epstein files has received significant national attention for a few weeks since the Justice Department memo stating the Epstein didn’t have a “client list,” as has been alleged, and that the department wouldn’t release additional documents to protect alleged victims.

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced late Wednesday the formation of a Strike Force in response to new revelations about how former President Barack Obama and members of the intelligence community fabricated the Russia hoax that haunted President Donald Trump’s first term and cost American taxpayers millions of dollars.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that the Strike Force will “assess the evidence” and “investigate potential next legal steps,” related to a damning 2020 report released this week by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

“There is irrefutable evidence that detail how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an Intelligence Community Assessment that they knew was false,” Gabbard said during a White House press conference on Wednesday. “We have referred and will continue to refer all of these documents to the Department of Justice and the FBI, to investigate the criminal implications of this. … The evidence that we have found, and that we have released, directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact.”

A federal Strike Force is made up of teams of investigators from multiple agencies working together to uncover complex cases of fraud and other offenses. Originally, Strike Forces were used to investigate webs of organized crime. For example, in the late 1960s, a Strike Force in Buffalo, New York, made up of attorneys and agents from several federal agencies achieved 30 indictments within the organized crime network, in part by learning about the organization’s leadership structure.

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While addressing the press, President Trump made it clear he has never visited Epstein’s island, Little Saint James.

The topic came up after Trump was asked whether he would pardon convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

Trump responded by saying he didn’t want to talk about it.

He then shared that Bill Clinton visited Epstein’s island 28 times and explained he had never been to the island.

Watch here:

 

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“This Department of Justice does not shy away from uncomfortable truths, nor from the responsibility to pursue justice.”

Ghislaine Maxwell and US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had a “very productive day,” Maxwell’s attorney said, after the DOJ official traveled to Florida to meet with infamous financier Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice, who is currently serving a 20-year prison term in Tallahassee for sex trafficking charges.

David Oscar Markus said of the meeting, “[Blanche] took a full day and asked a lot of questions. Miss Maxwell answered every single question. She never stopped. She never invoked a privilege. She never declined to answer. She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability,” per Fox News.

Maxwell’s brother, Ian, told the outlet that she is reportedly compiling evidence related to her 2021 trial over alleged government misconduct. “Clearly, we must now see how this plays out,” he said.

Ian Maxwell told reporters, “She will be putting before that court material new evidence that was not available to the defense at her 2021 trial, which would have had a significant impact on its outcome.”

 

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The House Ethics Committee released a report on Friday, finding that far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) impermissibly accepted more than $3,700 worth of apparel and accessories and a $35,000 Met Gala ticket for her then-boyfriend, Riley Roberts.

“Despite Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s significant attempts, the Committee found that she failed to fully comply with the Gift Rule by impermissibly accepting a gift of free admission to the 2021 Met Gala for her partner and by failing to pay full fair market value for some of the items worn to the event,” the committee writes in the report that they unanimously voted to issue earlier this week following a years-long investigation. 

It can be recalled that AOC made headlines back in 2021 when she sported a glitzy Brother Vellies dress adorned with the words “tax the rich.”

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The House Ethics Committee released a report on Friday, finding that far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) impermissibly accepted more than $3,700 worth of apparel and accessories and a $35,000 Met Gala ticket for her then-boyfriend, Riley Roberts.

“Despite Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s significant attempts, the Committee found that she failed to fully comply with the Gift Rule by impermissibly accepting a gift of free admission to the 2021 Met Gala for her partner and by failing to pay full fair market value for some of the items worn to the event,” the committee writes in the report that they unanimously voted to issue earlier this week following a years-long investigation. 

It can be recalled that AOC made headlines back in 2021 when she sported a glitzy Brother Vellies dress adorned with the words “tax the rich.”

 

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The Jeffrey Epstein political football bounced back and forth between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate Thursday, with both sides blocking each others’ resolutions to release the files.

Democrats blocked a GOP measure calling for the courts to unseal “all credible information on the Epstein case,” and Republicans rejected a Democrat’s resolution demanding the Department of Justice to release all of its files related to the investigation.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) resolution called for federal and state courts to “immediately unseal ALL materials that were part of any criminal investigation or prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein or Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell—subject only to redactions to protect victims.”

Mullin’s resolution comports with Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s directive to the courts to “produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony.”

This approach, however, hit a snag on Wednesday when an Obama-appointed federal judge in Florida denied the Justice Department’s request to unseal court files on Epstein.

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“You should focus on Clinton. You should focus on the former President of Harvard. You should focus on some of the hedge fund guys.”

President Donald Trump has said that the media should be focusing on the Clintons and other Epstein associates and added that he would give the media “a list” for them to focus on regarding those who have interacted with the disgraced financier.

Speaking to reporters before taking off, Trump said, “You should focus on Clinton. You should focus on the former President of Harvard [Larry Summers]. You should focus on some of the hedge fund guys. I will give you a list. These guys lived with Jeffrey Epstein. I sure as hell didn’t.”

The comment from Trump—although not directly implicating what some have speculated to be the “Epstein Client List”—comes after the DOJ said in a memo that Epstein’s child sex crimes did not implicate other third parties for prosecution aside from Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s girlfriend when he was alive.

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Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on Tuesday he would meet with Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell as the Trump administration faces pressure to release more information about the late sex offender’s case.

“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If [Ghislaine] Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in a statement. “I anticipate meeting with Ms. Maxwell in the coming days. Until now, no administration on behalf of the Department had inquired about her willingness to meet with the government. That changes now.”

In 2022, Maxwell was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other crimes. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, confirmed the meeting, telling CNN, “I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully. We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.”

Maxwell’s attorneys have appeared to ask President Donald Trump to intervene in her case. Her lawyers argued she should not have been prosecuted because of a plea deal Epstein struck in Florida in 2008 with then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Alex Acosta, who later served in the first Trump administration.

Her attorney recently said of Trump, “He’s the ultimate deal-maker — and I’m sure he’d agree that when the United States gives its word, it should keep it. With all the talk about who’s being prosecuted and who isn’t, it’s especially unfair that Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison based on a promise the government made and broke.”

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Members of the House anxious to call for the release of Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein will have to wait until September, and some of them are not happy about it.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that even as momentum grows to have whatever the Justice Department files contain splashed before the public, the House will not act on a resolution to call for their release, according to The Hill.

The House is scheduled to begin its August recess on Thursday. It returns Sept. 2.

“Here’s what I would say about the Epstein files: There is no daylight between the House Republicans, the House, and the president on maximum transparency,” Johnson said Monday.

“He has said that he wants all the credible files related to Epstein to be released. He’s asked the attorney general to request the grand jury files of the court. All of that is in process right now,” he said.

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This comes as Ag Pam Bondi has said the DOJ is meeting with Maxwell soon.

The House Oversight Committee has voted to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell over the Epstein files.

The House Oversight Committee has voted to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell, the girlfriend of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to the Independent. She is currently serving a 20-year prison term in Tallahassee for her involvement in a sex trafficking scheme.

The vote in the committee was done by voice vote, which will force Maxwell to testify before House Oversight. This comes after fallout from a DOJ memo that stated Epstein did not kill himself, and that he did not have any incriminating “client list.”

Upon the contents of the memo becoming public, there has been ire directed at the DOJ by Democrats as well as some Republicans claiming that there has not been enough transparency with the files.

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A bombshell report by the U.S. Department of Justice reaches stunning concludes about the death of Jeffrey Epstein and the alleged client list of high-profile individuals serviced by his ring of underage sex slaves.

Working in conjunction with the FBI, the DOJ for the first time confirmed that no such list was ever compiled by Epstein, who died by hanging in 2019. Although his connections to some of the world’s most powerful leaders were vast, there is no evidence that he blackmailed associates, kept a “client” list, or was murdered, according to the memo.

The finding amounts to significant pushback on the long-held theory that Epstein was murdered while being held on human trafficking charges. The Trump administration is preparing the release of a new video — both in “raw” and “enhanced” qualities — that it claims confirms no individual entered the area where Epstein sat in a jail cell on the night of his death.

The two-page memo concurs with a medical examiner’s finding that he died by hanging with no evidence of foul play.

Before entering public office, FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, had been among the voices most critical of the government’s investigation into Epstein’s death. They had alluded to his relationship with the Clintons, Bill Gates, and members of the Royal Family, all of whom visited his notorious Virgin Islands compound over the years.

President Donald Trump is doubling down on his insistence the Jeffrey Epstein Client list doesn’t exist and that the whole obsession with Epstein is not good. He wrote “The Radical Left Democrats have hit pay dirt, again! Just like with the FAKE and fully discredited Steele Dossier, the lying 51 ‘Intelligence’ Agents, the Laptop from Hell, which the Dems swore had come from Russia (No, it came from Hunter Biden’s bathroom!)”

“… Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this “bullshit,” hook, line, and sinker. They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years. I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.”

Trump calls Epstein case a hoax and lashes out at Maga critics – live updates | Trump administration– www.theguardian.com
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In a lengthy Truth Social post earlier, Donald Trump has dismissed the furious Maga backlash over the Jeffrey Epstein case as a “scam” perpetuated by Democrats and accused his so-called “past supporters” – who have called for more transparency around documents related to the case – of “doing the Democrats’ work” by buying into the “hoax”.

Trump’s base has been in uproar over the justice department’s recent decision to halt further disclosures related to Epstein, including the alleged client list, as well as its finding that he died by suicide.

“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.”

However, it is very much his current – and prominent – supporters who are leading the calls for the so-called Epstein files to be released, including members of Congress like key Trump ally House speaker Mike Johnson, and influential Maga figures like far-right activist Laura Loomer.

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President Trump has doubled down on his claims that the Epstein files were created by former FBI Director James Comey, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden.

Last week, in a disappointing post, Trump downplayed the Epstein files and claimed Democrats created them.

Trump wrote, “For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again. Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration.”

Now he has repeated those claims while addressing reporters outside the White House.

The reporter asked Trump, “Did Bondi tell you your name appeared in the Epstein Files?”

He responded, “She’s giving us a very quick briefing, and in terms of the credibility of the different things they’ve seen.

“I would say, these files were made up by Comey, made up by Obama, and made up by Biden.”

Trump concluded that whatever Bondi thinks is credible, she should release them.

 

Biden.”

Trump concluded that whatever Bondi thinks is credible, she should release them.

ABC reported more on Trump’s comments on the Epstein files:

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Attorney General Pam Bondi should release “whatever she thinks is credible” on Jeffrey Epstein as he faces pressure from his MAGA supporters.

Trump, speaking to reporters as he left the White House, said he received a “very quick briefing” on the Justice Department and FBI review of the Epstein files. The briefing took place before the release of the DOJ and FBI memo last week.

The review found no evidence the deceased financier kept a “client list” of associates and no further charges are expected. The department also released hours of footage as part of its review, which officials say further confirmed Epstein died by suicide while in custody in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019.

ABC News’ Katherine Faulders asked the president what Bondi told him about the review, “specifically, did she tell you at all that your name appeared in the file?”

“No, no, she’s — she’s given us just a very quick briefing,” Trump responded before making baseless claims the files were created by some of his political foes.

“And in terms of the credibility of the different things that they’ve seen, and I would say that, you know, these files were made up by Comey, they were made up by Obama, they were made up by the Biden — and you know, we and we went through years of that with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, with all of the different things that we had to go through,” Trump said.

“We’ve gone through years of it, but she’s handled it very well, and it’s going to be up to her,” Trump said of Bondi. “Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.”

Here’s the moment he said it here:

Here is how users on X, reacted:

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “All In” that calls for a special counsel to investigate all the Jeffrey Epstein material were “just a diversionary tactic.”

Jeffries said, “At the end of the day the American people deserve to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as it relates to this whole Jeffrey Epstein matter. Donald Trump and his MAGA extremist allies have fanned the flames of this conspiracy theory for years. So there’s only two options at this point, either Donald Trump, Pam Bondi and that whole crew have been lying to the American people over the last several years about what is actually in the Jeffrey Epstein files, or alternatively, Donald Trump, Pam Bondi and his allies in the Trump administration are hiding something from the American people right now. So we’re determined to get to the bottom of this on behalf of the American people who deserve transparency from their government.”

Host Chris Hayes said, “Reporter Annie Karni who was just on in the last block, said that the line from Republicans in the House today were talking about appointing a special counsel. I wonder if that’s something that you would support or other Democrats would support?”

Jeffries said, “Seems to me that a special counsel is just a diversionary tactic. If the files exist, produce them and produce them now to the American people.”

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Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced a “discharge petition” to force the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

A discharge petition in the House of Representatives is a mechanism for members to force a bill out of committee and onto the floor for a vote.

Discharge petitions may cover only a single introduced measure, not multiple bills.

It requires the signatures of a majority of the House (218 members).

“We all deserve to know what’s in the Epstein files, who’s implicated, and how deep this corruption goes. Americans were promised justice and transparency,” Massie said.

 

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President Trump released a statement on Wednesday morning, labeling the Epstrin files the Democrats’ “new SCAM” and condemning his own supporters for talking about the Epstein case.

“My PAST supporters have bought into this “bullshit,” hook, line, and sinker,” Trump said. “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!”

“I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,” Trump added.

He also doubled down on his comparison of the Epstein files to the Steele Dossier, the Hunter Biden laptop, and Russiahoax, saying “these Scams and Hoaxes are all the Democrats are good at – It’s all they have – They are no good at governing, no good at policy, and no good at picking winning candidates.”

Full statement below:

The Radical Left Democrats have hit pay dirt, again! Just like with the FAKE and fully discredited Steel Dossier, the lying 51 “Intelligence” Agents, the Laptop from Hell, which the Dems swore had come from Russia (No, it came from Hunter Biden’s bathroom!), and even the Russia, Russia, Russia Scam itself, a totally fake and made up story used in order to hide Crooked Hillary Clinton’s big loss in the 2016 Presidential Election, these Scams and Hoaxes are all the Democrats are good at – It’s all they have – They are no good at governing, no good at policy, and no good at picking winning candidates. Also, unlike Republicans, they stick together like glue.

Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this “bullshit,” hook, line, and sinker. They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years. I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.

Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore! Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

 

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On Sunday night AXIOS reported on a new FBI, DOJ memo obtained by Axios concludes Jeffrey Epstein did not have a client list that he used for blackmail.

The FBI earlier determined that Epstein did commit suicide in August 2019.

And the DOJ-FBI also released a 10-hour video on Sunday from outside Jeffrey Epstein’s jail cell.

** The full video is posted at the DOJ website here.

But now we can confirm that an entire minute was cut from the DOJ video that was released last night. Why? What are they hiding?

If you follow the full video you can see for yourself that the video is cut off at 11:59:00.

The video feed then restarts exactly at 12:00:00.

Where is the missing video?

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A medical professional whom people trusted to care for them sparked a national uproar after showing off her evil soul following one of the worst U.S. natural disasters in recent memory, and now she no longer has a job.

As Mediaite reported, Christina B. Propst, a Houston, Texas pediatrician, gloated about the 82 victims of the Texas flooding in Kerr County, saying they voted to gut FEMA and got what they deserved as a result.

These victims included 28 innocent little children.

“May all visitors, children, non-MAGA voters and pets be safe and dry,” she wrote. “Kerr County MAGA voted to gut FEMA. They deny climate change. May they get what they voted for. Bless their hearts.”

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The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigations say they have found no evidence that Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a “client list,” or was murdered, per a memo obtained by Axios.

The document states that Epstein died by suicide and confirms that no further charges will be filed — effectively signaling the end of an active investigation, though no formal closure has been announced.

The findings were disclosed in a two-page statement, marking the Trump administration’s first definitive rejection of years of speculation surrounding Epstein’s 2019 death in federal custody.

Investigators say enhanced surveillance footage from the night Epstein died in a New York prison shows no one entered the area near his cell from the time he was locked in until his body was discovered.

“The FBI enhanced the relevant footage by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness,” the memo states.