February 8, 2026 at 11:22 AM EST
'Time for a moral reckoning' as Epstein files reveal associates in Trump's inner circle

British-American journalist Sarah Baxter on Sunday laid bare the "deafening" silence of President Donald Trump's inner circle as several of his top aides and advisors are revealed to have associated with late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. According to Baxter, the release of the Epstein files "has laid bare the immorality of America," noting people who were "caught lying" about the extent of their relationships with Epstein are now forced to "duck and dive for cover." "Their strategy comes straight out of the PR playbook of the malevolent Donald Trump whisperer, Steve Bannon, who was asked by his pal Epstein in 2019 whether to 'continue to ignore' personal attacks," Baxter wrote. "Bannon said yes. Responding, he said, 'makes it way worse.' He is now following his own cynical advice on the subject." Baxter noted that a former Trump foe, Hillary Clinton, has the "power to blow this conspiracy of silence apart" after the former first lady demanded a public hearing before the House Oversight Committee. Chairman James Comer (R-KY), Baxter explained, "is now scurrying for excuses to resist this demand." "His reluctance to call anybody in Trump's circle to appear matches the quiescence of the Maga and QAnon conspiracy-mongers," Baxter wrote. "If Hillary Clinton has to give evidence, let's hear from all of them," the journalist added. "And yes, that includes all the Trumps." "It's time for a moral reckoning," she said.

February 8, 2026 at 11:04 AM EST
DOJ seeks to quash Trump chief of staff subpoena

A court filing in a federal criminal lobbying case against a former Republican congressman confirmed what the government watchdog Public Citizen warned against as soon as President Donald Trump appointed Susie Wiles to be his chief of staff: that her "lobbying client list is both extensive and littered with controversial clients who stand to benefit from having their former lobbyist running the White House." The court filing was submitted Thursday by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and sought to "quash" a subpoena that was served to Wiles in December.

February 8, 2026 at 10:02 AM EST
Ex-KGB official says 2 countries have copies of compromising Trump video

Former KGB officer Alnur Mussayev, who once headed Kazakhstan's security services, said both Kazakhstan and the Kremlin are in possession of an incriminating video of U.S. President Donald Trump, among other "compromising material," Ukraine's Kyiv Post reports. Mussayev on Friday spoke with Ukraine's Espreso TV program "Studia Zakhid," where the Kyiv Post reports he "reiterated a claim he has expressed publicly for years - namely, that there is a Kremlin file with compromising video material from Trump's stay at Moscow's Ritz-Carlton hotel in 2013" for the Miss Universe pageant. According to Mussayev, Kazakhstan is also "in possession of that same kompromat." Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and Kazakhstan's National Security Committee (KNB) both have a copy of the file, "including possession of film footage, presumable of a sexual nature," according to the report. Mussayev told Ukraine's "Studia Zakhid" the files "were used by former chairman of the National Security Committee Karim Masimov during a meeting with Secretary of State [Rex] Tillerson in the United States." Tillerson met with Masimov at the U.S. State Department in October 2017, according to Tillerson's public schedule. Trump fired Tillerson in March 2018. Mussayev said Kazakhstan obtained the video because a Kazakh oligarch named Bulat Temuratov owned, and still owns, the Ritz Hotel. According to Mussayev, Temuratov is "close to [Kazakh] President [Nursultan] Nazarbayev." "Whatever was filmed at the Ritz Hotel belonged to Kazakhs," Mussayev explained. "Russian special services used camera surveillance in the rooms. In addition to the Russians, it got through to the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan via Bulat Temuratov," Mussayev added. Mussayev has long claimed Trump was "groomed in 1987 as a potential Soviet asset," according to the Kyiv Post. In Feb. 2018, Mussayev wrote on Facebook Trump is in the category of "ideally recruitable people."

February 8, 2026 at 9:01 AM EST
Trump constantly 'screws up' White House messaging with his own 'garbage posts': analysis

Journalist Jonah Goldberg on Sunday explained the negative impact of President Donald Trump's "garbage" Truth Social posts on his own White House agenda, noting the president is "constantly screwing up" the administration's messaging with his "irresponsible" social media habit. Speaking on Air Force One Friday, Trump tried to shift the blame for an AI video depicting former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. The post appeared overnight Thursday on the tail end of a video pushing conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. As even Republican supporters of Trump expressed outrage over the post, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to defend the image of the Obamas as "an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King." "Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public," Leavitt said of Trump's post, despite there being no ape characters in the Lion King. Several hours after Leavitt's remark, Trump's Truth Social account finally removed the video, and a White House official claimed the post was "erroneously made" by a staffer. Trump on Friday told reporters he never saw the end of the video. "I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of picture people don't like," Trump said. "I wouldn't like it either, but I didn't see it. I just, I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud." "It was really about voter fraud and the machines - how crooked it is, how disgusting it is," Trump continued. "Then I gave it to the people, generally they'd look at the whole thing but I guess somebody didn't and they posted it. And then we deleted it." Asked about his Republican defenders urging him to apologize for the clip, Trump argued he "didn't make a mistake." "I look at a lot of, thousands of, things, and I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine," Trump said. Goldberg on Sunday said the incident is indicative of the White House's messaging struggle frequently brought on by the president himself. "I take Trump at his word on this,"Goldberg explained. "... Trump's explanation is entirely plausible to me. He was stupid, lazy and irresponsible and forwarded a video only after watching it for 10 seconds. Doesn't mean he wouldn't have still sent it if he watched the whole thing." "My point is, he posts irresponsible stuff all the time," Goldberg continued. "And that's the thing I thought was most interesting about the Karoline Leavitt response is when they were in full defensive mode, she said, 'Why don't quit with the fake outrage? Why don't you guys report about something the American people care about?' And the problem is that Donald Trump is constantly screwing up their messaging by posting garbage like this, which is not what the American people care about. And then the media covers it." Goldberg went on to note the "reason you got blowback from a lot of Republicans is now we're in 2026, we are in full midterm mode, and anything that distracts from the messaging that they want, they are more inclined to criticize going into the midterms, including stuff like this."

February 8, 2026 at 8:43 AM EST
State officials worry protections against Trump are eroding

When President Donald Trump pressured state and local officials to intervene in his behalf in the 2020 election, it wasn't a matter of abstract constitutional theory for the people running elections. It was armed protests outside offices, threats against their families, subpoenas for voter data, and months of uncertainty about whether doing their jobs would land them in legal jeopardy. This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.

February 7, 2026 at 2:58 PM EST
'Stay home': MAGA world 'heartbroken' as US athletes turn on Trump

Conservative website Townhall and the MAGA community are exploding over American athletes "going viral" for "choosing to diss the country that they were sent to represent at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games." The MAGA community and its entertainers take as fact that President Donald Trump and America are one and the same, despite one being a 250-year-old nation and the other being a 79-year-old man in declining health.

February 7, 2026 at 2:55 PM EST
Trump 'the laughingstock' of polite society: NYT editorial

New York Times Columnist Jamelle Bouie says the easiest way to read the motivations of an insincere person like President Donald Trump is to see him "at his most unfiltered." That involves his late-night posts on social media, far away from the eyes of handlers.

February 7, 2026 at 12:49 PM EST
Gabbard blocked reports of Trump aide's foreign intel contact: whistleblower

A whistleblower tells the Gurdian that National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard blocked the publication of an intelligence report concerning an "unusual phone call between an individual associated with foreign intelligence and a person close to Donald Trump." The details of the communication are not known, but the Wall Street Journal reported it could cause "grave damage to national security" if it becomes public, according to an official. The information also "implicates another federal agency" and reportedly includes "claims of executive privilege that may involve the White House."

February 7, 2026 at 12:41 PM EST
Trump is persecuting Christians -- thanks to the media

In Washington this week, at the National Prayer Breakfast, the president actually took credit for the Bible being a bestseller. "In 2025, more copies of the Holy Bible were sold in the United States than at any time in the last 100 years," Donald Trump said.

February 7, 2026 at 12:08 PM EST
Kid Rock is two decades past his peak -- and his fame pales compared to Bad Bunny

Forbes Magazine reports Turning Point USA's choice of country-rapper Kid Rock to perform at an alternative halftime show during the Super Bowl was two decades too late. Conservative organization Turning Point is looking to build a halftime home for frustrated Trump voters riled at the idea of Spanish-speaking U.S. citizen Bad Bunny headlining the NFL show. But Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, isn't likely to hit with many people under the age of 40.

February 7, 2026 at 11:52 AM EST
Trump isn't the real threat -- the 'MAGA apparatus' is: analysis

Aging President Donald Trump with his cankles, slurred speech, drooping face and reports of a collapsing circulatory system is not the threat to democracy it once was, say a panel of New York Times columnist. The real threat, they say, is the power structure that put him in place -- and could soon install another Trumpy president. During a panel discussion, columnist David French admitted that the MAGA movement is already "wanting to have a life after Donald Trump."

February 7, 2026 at 9:59 AM EST
More Republicans 'running for the hills' as midterm beatdown looms

Bulwark White House Correspondent Andrew Egger admits the U.S. Capitol is "starting to see some Republicans run for the hills" as mounting frustration under the rule of President Donald Trump mingles with the likelihood of an encroaching midterm bushwhacking by Democrats. "Republican Congressman Mark Amadai announced he'd be retiring from Congress at the end of this term," said Egger, while adding that the retirement should be puzzling because the congressman "just won reelection in 2024 by a lot, almost 19 points."