Today in Politics, Bulletin 80. 2/27/25.

Ron Filipkowski Feb 28 ∙

… Today was supposed to be MAGA’s Superbowl - the release of the secret Jeffrey Epstein files. This was the day that many prominent Democrats and half of Hollywood was going to go to prison after we learned about their Epstein associations. MAGA has believed for years that Deep State actors had Epstein killed in prison to cover up their crimes.

… Of course, the fact that their hero Donald Trump was a well-documented Epstein pal is irrelevant to them since Trump told them they only discussed business. Also, the fact that Epstein died in a prison while Trump was president would make it a lot easier for him to be involved in an Epstein murder than anyone else.

… They insisted during the campaign that Trump promise to release the files on Epstein, the JFK assassination, UFOs, and a host of other conspiracies. And Trump promised them he would. But last night, on the eve of the release to Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s investigative committee, DOJ said it will not release the files yet but might do so soon.

… They all went nuts.

… Then, hours later, AG Pam Bondi reversed that and announced they would release “some of the files.” MAGA wasn’t thrilled about that, and seemed to smell a rat.

… So they waited today, and waited some more. And what happened? A motley crew of right-wing social media influencers emerged with a small binder in hand. So only a small amount of the files were released, and they were released only to a few MAGA influencers. The limited files were released by DOJ to ‘Libs of TikTok’s Chaya Raichik, Collin Rugg, Rogan O’Handly, Jack Posobiec, Chad Prather, Mike Cernovich. In other words, a bunch of professional liars and propagandists.

… Don’t worry, MAGA. Chad Prather is now on the case:

… Rep. Luna wasn’t happy: “Neither I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today. A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein's phonebook. THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!”

… They even lost Laura Loomer: “So when can I expect these big shot brilliant social media influencers to research and release their ‘exclusive binders’ full of the first batch of Epstein files? I guess we will be waiting here all week because something tells me some of the people who were invited don’t have the brain power to do original research. Thank God I worked so hard during the election season and ran cover for so many people’s intellectual deficiencies.”

… MAGA actor Kevin Sorbo at 6:55 AM: “The pedos in Hollywood are shaking right about now.

… MAGA actor Kevin Sorbo at 3:30 PM: “So, nothing new was released today. So much for government transparency.”

… Rep. Eric Swalwell did a little MAGA trolling on it:

… Meanwhile, after a lobbying effort from the Trump Admin, Romania lifted the travel restrictions on Andrew Tate to allow him to fly to the US. He arrived in Florida today on a private jet. Tate has a huge US right-wing social media following and is a big Trump supporter.

… Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba told Tate on Benny Johnson’s podcast a few weeks ago that she was “a big fan” of his. Tate is charged with human trafficking, sexual abuse, money laundering, and the case is still pending. Tate is charged with trafficking girls and women from multiple countries to himself, his brother and friends where they were abused and sexually assaulted.

… Ron DeSantis was fuming at Trump after learning that Tate was in FL: "Florida is not a place where you're welcome with that type of conduct. Our AG, James Uthmeier, is looking into what state hooks and jurisdictions we have to deal with this. I don't know how it came to this. We were not involved. We were not notified. I found out through the media."

… Barstool Sports founder and Trump supporter Dave Portnoy: “If I’m gonna be fair these questions need to be asked today: Why is the release of the Epstein list always a shit show? What’s the point of booting out illegals and criminals while somehow becoming a safe haven for the Tate brothers? Why is Crypto in the toilet if Trump is crypto king? How far does Tesla stock have to crash before Elon goes back to work?”

… Trump told the media that the US could bring in $50 trillion dollars on his Trump Gold Cards if they can sign up 10 million people to put up the $5 million price for US citizenship.

… Sen. Tommy Tuberville to Fox Business on the Trump Gold Card: “I played golf with Trump before. He comes up with a hundred ideas in 18 holes of golf. He always thinking about something to make things better. He’s a business guy!”

… David Horowitz, Editor of the right-wing publication The Blaze: “Trump Gold Card? This is worse than anything Mitt Romney and that era of globalists ever proposed. I'm hoping this is just a joke.”

… Mike Johnson is already trying to cook the books on his budget, which explodes the deficit so Republicans can give a massive tax cut to corporations and the highest earners. Johnson told Bloomberg after meeting with Trump that the “fraud” that Musk uncovers, Trump’s tariffs, and his now Trump Gold Visas selling citizenship for $5 million will take care of everything.

… Tuberville said there needs to be deeper cuts in the Pentagon budget: “We have to start in the Pentagon. We need to make a trigon, three sides instead of five sides in the Pentagon.”

… I think they call that a triangle.

… The coordinated right-wing social media influencer brigade blasted out to million of followers their latest talk point lie that Democrats voted against tax-free tips and overtime in the House budget proposal. Neither of those Trump campaign promises is going to happen and they aren’t in the bill. It was such an obvious lie that they couldn’t even get the usual suspects in Congress to run with it.

… But Lauren Boebert did: “No Tax On Tips has passed the House! Promises Made. Promises Kept. That’s how MAGA works!”

There was no Bulletin yesterday because of my podcast Uncovered, where I take a deep dive into the Top 10 stories of the week. If you want to check it out, it is here.

… And Anna Paulina Luna ran with the lie also, although she deleted her post after she was called out on it and got Community Noted on X. Boebert stuck by hers though - still up.

… Fox host Laura Ingraham said the House budget deal is a fiasco: “Apparently there is a majority of Republicans who are determined to have a budget deficit of $2 trillion/year until the markets shut them down. If the voters conclude that a Republican majority means that the budget deficit gets bigger every year, it’s catastrophic for the GOP.”

… “How do Republicans claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility when you’re passing a budget that racks up so much new debt? Congressional Republicans and Democrats are spending addicts. Big challenges ahead. Musk said budget deficit has to get down to about 3% of GDP. It’s about double that now. This is why the debt is exploding. Unconscionable.”

… Mike Johnson told CNN that the people yelling at his members in their districts are just paid operatives: “The videos you saw of the town halls were for paid protesters. They had Democrats come and fill the seats.”

… MAGA supporters were also dismayed about this new Trump statement: “I see so many things saying we don’t want China in this country, that’s not right. We want them to invest. We’ll invest in China.” So much for America First.

… Alina Habba got a bit snippy with Fox host Laura Ingraham about it. Ingraham: “A little murmuring in MAGA land about the comments on China today. Did MAGA vote for China to be able to buy up more American real estate or companies?” Habba: “Is that really the question? Is that what we’re doing here now? The spin?”

… Trump announced this morning on Truth Social that his 30 day tariff “pause” expires next week and they are going into effect. That means 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Trump also said he was increasing tariffs on China to 20% instead of 10% like he said previously.

… Trump: “The proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled. China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date. Thank you for your attention to this matter. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

… So where are we at? Trump will allow these huge tariffs to take effect, the stock market will tumble, prices and inflation will go up, people will lose their jobs, boycotts will ensue, and those countries will impose huge retaliatory tariffs on us. OR Trump will back down and do another pause, which makes him look a fool rattling his saber and making hollow threats.

… If I was to bet, I would say the trade war will be starting next week.

… Bloomberg reports that Canadians have had enough of the abuse and are boycotting American products. Canada purchased $349.4 billion in US goods in 2024 - almost as much as the entire EU. Canada sends more tourists to the US than any other country, who spent $20.5 billion in the US last year. But that is all over now - thanks to Trump.

… A survey of 3,310 Canadians by a Vancouver-based research firm found that 85% of people plan to replace US products with alternatives. Nearly half who planned to vacation in the US in 2025 are changing their travel plans.

… Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky has apparently been taking heat from his fellow Canadians because of his friendship with Trump, so Trump issued a lame statement that likely just make it worse for MAGA Wayne: “Wayne Gretzky is a fantastic guy! He could run for any political office in Canada, and win. Wayne is my friend, and he wants to make me happy, and is therefore somewhat ‘low key’ about Canada remaining a separate Country, rather than becoming a cherished and beautiful 51st State. Wayne and Janet love Canada, and they should only support Canada, and whatever else makes the Canadian People, and Governor Justin Trudeau, happy. He’s the Greatest Canadian of them all, and I am therefore making him a “free agent,” because I don’t want anyone in Canada to say anything bad about him.”

… Reuters reports that Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles pulled Musk aside two weeks ago and asked him to at least let her know in advance before he makes major policy decisions so they aren’t constantly scrambling to deal with the fallout. Musk started to inform Wiles for a while each day, but after Trump made a post on Truth Social saying that he wanted Musk to be “more aggressive”, Musk took that as a mandate to start ignoring Wiles again.

… Wiles also thought she reached an understanding that Musk would seek approval from cabinet secretaries before he used OPM, to send emails directly to federal workers. But Musk reneged on that agreement when he sent the email to 2.3 million civil-service workers in an email to detail their accomplishments, with a threat to fire them if they failed to comply.

… Trump and Wiles reportedly had no idea that the email was sent out and were completely blindsided, causing them to walk into the office to a firestorm on Monday morning created by Musk on Saturday.

… Musk says he might have screwed up a few things, but he’s getting better: "We will make mistakes. We won't be perfect. So for example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was Ebola prevention. But we reversed it.”

… Jeremy Konyndyk says Musk is lying: “So, I've actually led Ebola outbreak response at USAID . This is bunk from Elon. They have laid off most of the experts, they're bankrupting most of the partner organizations, have withdrawn from WHO, and muzzled CDC. What's left is a fig-leaf effort to cover their asses politically.”

… NYT reports that Musk did NOT reinstate Ebola prevention. Nidhi Bouri, who was in charge of the team until it was cut last month: “There have been no efforts to ‘turn on’ Ebola prevention.” She said her USAID team of 60 people has been cut to 6.

… Former Rep. Tom Malinowski: I doubt there is a single civil servant in our government, even the least competent, who has ever done anything in their whole career as stupidly bad as ‘accidentally’ stopping Ebola prevention. The biggest firing offenses are being committed by the guy doing the firing. Whoops, I accidentally cancelled Ebola prevention! Doh, I fired the the bird flu experts! Oops-a-daisy, I stopped the Lutheran Charities foster care and adoption services! My bad, I sacked the nuclear weapons workers! Now can I have access to your tax returns?”

… Kari Lake is upset that Musk now wants to eliminate Voice of America, right after Lake was named Director of VOA: “This is an 83 year old outlet that has been doing good work in many of those years.”

… WaPo reported on Trump voter and Forest Service employee Ryleigh Cooper from Michigan, who was fired as part of Musk’s purge. She thought her job would be safe because she only made $40K a year. She also lost her health insurance, and was losing hope of being able to get pregnant with her husband and was considering IVF.

… The Coopers couldn’t afford IVF, so when Trump promised that he would make IVF free, that convinced her to vote for him after voting for Biden in 2020. She said free IVF was her last thought before casting her vote for Trump. But now she’s been fired, lost her health insurance, lost paid 12 week maternity leave, and just learned that Trump is NOT making IVF free.

… After losing her job, Cooper read the WH statement that said IVF was only going to be ‘studied’. The WH statement concluded: “Delivering on promises for American families.” Cooper said her immediate reaction was, “That’s bullshit.”

… Rep. Ro Khanna to Meidas Touch: “We had all these veterans talking about their stories. They got notes on Valentine's Day that they were fired, many of them top performers. There's no rationale to it. It's not like they said, okay we're going to spend 6 months to find out what positions are redundant or to identify people who may not be working well. They just engaged in mass firing. I have warned Musk about this. He thinks it’s like Twitter. It’s not.”

… The Department of Labor issued the new jobs report, and it was dismal. First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose higher than expected with 242,000 jobless claims filed last week. That’s up 22,000 from the previous week.

… Bloomberg reports that inflation indicators are bad, which also means interest rates will likely not come down as expected: “The scope of reports indicating a resurgence in price pressures — spanning from input costs to wage growth to inflation expectations — underscores the Fed Reserve’s intent to keep interest rates on hold for the time being. Policymakers’ preferred gauge of underlying inflation probably picked up in Jan, ahead of data due Friday.”

… Lauren Saidel-Baker, economist at ITR Economics: “Our outlook is very much for inflation to be coming back. We’ve been saying second half of this year, but it seems like the pressures are already starting to build.”

… One major food manufacturer told them: “I have more uncertainty about the future business/consumer environment than ever before in my 40 years of operating businesses.”

… “Persistent price increases in areas like food, as well as other big expenses like housing, healthcare and car insurance, are hindering progress on broader inflation, even as costs of other things like furniture and appliances are largely declining.”

… Egg prices are highest in US history and are projected to only get worse in the near future. The US Dept of Agriculture estimates that egg prices will rise another 41% this year.

… WaPo reported that the FAA is about to cancel a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon to overhaul their communications system, so it can then award the contract to Elon Musk’s Starlink. The existing contract was awarded to Verizon in 2023. Musk on Monday: “The Verizon system is not working and so is putting air travelers at serious risk.”

… Verizon VP Joseph Russo said Tuesday that Verizon was offering the “reliability and performance” that the FAA needed, and its system was expected to be completed and fully operational soon.”

… Setting aside the insane, unprecedented, criminal conflict of interest for a second, we would also be terminating a contract that is almost competed and paid for so we can throw it away and pay Musk for a new one, which has never been used before by FAA with millions of lives at stake every day. What could go wrong?

… Sen. Tina Smith: “This is corruption in plain sight. Musk is getting sweetheart deals for his companies, DOGE is helping him do it, and the President is cheering him on. This isn’t about government efficiency, but making him richer.”

… CNN reports that Trump intends to be very involved in the 2026 midterm elections -likely endorsing challengers to House Republicans in primaries who he thinks are not sufficiently loyal to him, as well as using hundreds of millions in his PAC to help candidates in key races. But top Trump fundraiser Caroline Wren hopes he stays out of races in places where he isn’t popular: “We should give Susan Collins some space. She’s in a very blue state, so let’s just leave her alone.”

… WH Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair worries that Republican candidates have always done poorly in midterms because so many MAGA voters simply don’t show up and vote when Trump isn’t on the ballot: “It’ll be challenging, because if you look at the data … what carried President Trump in his elections is a group of voters who only vote when Trump is on the ballot.”

… RFK Jr was asked about the measles outbreak in Texas among an anti-vaccine community that resulted in at least 120 cases and one death: “It is not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year.” He also claimed that the most of the hospitalizations were because of a quarantine, not because of serious cases. That is also a lie according to local health officials.

… Rep. Jake Auchincloss: “The last time a child in the U.S. died of measles was in 2003.”

… Sen. Bill Cassidy, who cast the key vote to confirm RFK Jr., responded to the measles outbreak: “Absolutely devastating news. I’m encouraging parents to make sure their child is up-to-date on their vaccines. The measles vaccine is safe and effective.”

… Thanks, Bill. For absolutely nothing.

… Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) is working hard for the people: “I’m grateful to announce that I am drafting legislation to direct the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill featuring Donald J. Trump. Most valuable bill for most valuable President!

… Sen. Tammy Duckworth to CNN: "Donald Trump has fired more veterans than any other president in our recent history. This has to stop, because these are hard-working people."

… Rep. Pat Fallon told Fox that people on food stamps need to get back to work: "We have a message for those kind of folks: If you're able-bodied and you want to milk the taxpayer, those days are over. Get off the couch, stop eating the Cheetos, stop buying the medical marijuana and watching TV. You're actually gonna contribute now."

… AP has obtained the full list of 875 contracts to be cut from the VA’s budget by Musk, including a contract that supports disability ratings assessments; a contract to answer 24,000 requests for military records to help veterans with proving their toxic exposure and other conditions were connected to their time in service; the engineering needed to integrate VHA, DOD, VA and other agency datasets to assist with medical histories; calibrating radiation detection equipment, and many more.”

… Some new polling results from YouGov:

Trump should be King of the United States: No: 84% Yes: 7%

Trump's Birthday should be a Federal Holiday: No: 79% Yes: 10%

(Among Democrats) - Democrats need to be more (X) in their opposition to Trump's policies: Confrontational: 68% Civil: 19%

Departments That Should Be Eliminated: DOGE: 29% HUD: 4% NSF: 4% USPS: 4% DOE: 3% NASA: 3% HHS: 2% VA: 1%

… Lauren Boebert said that Trump stopped the wildfires in CA when he released water from the reservoirs in northern CA, which had zero impact on anything: “If it weren’t for President Trump opening up the spigot, maybe those homes would still be on fire.”

… The Editor of WaPo’s Opinion Page resigned in protest along with several writers after Jeff Bezos’s latest edict that he will decide the topics that are written about. Sen. Bernie Sanders: “This is what Oligarch ownership of the media looks like: The second-richest guy in the world, Bezos, owns WaPo. He has now declared that the editorial page of that paper is going Trump right-wing. Surprise, Mr. Musk agrees. We must support independent media.”

… AOC says she had near unanimous bipartisan support for one of her bills until Elon Musk got involved: “Why isn’t this moving? Republicans support it. Democrats support it. So what happened? On Dec 15th at 4:15 AM, Musk began firing off a barrage of social media posts opposing Pharmacy Benefit Manager reform. All of a sudden, something that had almost unanimous support fell apart. We had nearly 435 members on board with it—he tweets, and it kills drug pricing reform that would save people money on their insulin, asthma inhalers, and everything they need.

… “And to top it off, 5 days after he kills Pharmacy Benefit Manager reform, we get this tweet from Musk: “What is a pharmacy benefit manager?”

… AOC: “The problem here isn’t a substance issue or a process issue—it’s an oligarchy issue, a power issue. And this room is where the power of the people resides. Everyone here was elected to be accountable to the people—not to be governed by tweets, but to be governed by their duly elected representatives. So we can get this done; there are more of us than there are of him.”

… Rep. Tom Suozzi to Meidas Touch: “26% of the fed workforce are veterans. In society overall, only 5% of workers are veterans, but in the fed govt, it’s more than a quarter. And now we’re laying these people off? What about their lives? What about their service to this country? We encouraged them to apply for these jobs, and now we’re just taking away their livelihoods? That doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s not just chaotic, it’s not just cruel—it’s unconstitutional. The way they’re doing this is unconstitutional.”

… Transportation Sec Sean Duffy: “I’m on my way to the FAA Academy in Okla City to learn more about the training to become Air Traffic Controller and meet with students. Stay tuned for an announcement.”

… After mass firings at the FAA, Musk is now calling for people to come back out of retirement: “There is a shortage of top notch air traffic controllers. If you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so.”

… Trump was asked if he still considers Zelensky a dictator: “Did I say that. I can’t believe I said that. Next question.”

… He said it in a Truth Social post, then he said it in his speech at CPAC.

… Axios reports that Tim Walz will not run for the senate seat that is coming open and is considering a run for 3rd term as Gov of MN.

… Republican commentator Ari Fleischer on Trump’s first cabinet meeting with Elon Musk: “This wasn’t a cabinet meeting. It’s a news conference with members of the cabinet as witnesses.”

… Sen. Elizabeth Warren to MeidasTouch: “Elon, stop being such a coward. You claim to be for maximum transparency—so get out of your bunker and come face real questions. Not from people who just suck up to you, but from those with serious concerns about what you’re doing, because you’re affecting millions of lives across this country in terrible ways.”

… Ben Meiselas: “You think they’re scared?” Warren: “Yeah. I think this is one of those things where they kind of build their alternative reality, and Elon spends all of his time with people who don't contradict him. You know, Elon, there's a whole real world out here, and the real world has some serious questions about what you're up to.”

… Daily Mail reports that despite several other prominent hosts being fired at MSNBC, Joe and Mika will keep their jobs despite ratings in the toilet. Morning Joe has lost 40% of their audience since Joe and Mika’s trip to kiss the ring at Mar-a-Lago. MSNBC spokesperson Richard Hudock: “Joe and Mika are categorically not going anywhere. Nothing here. Full stop.”

… Former MSNBC host Tiffany Cross is upset that Joy Reid was fired while J & M kept their jobs: “Don't believe the hype about the ratings. Her show was doing very well. You know whose ratings aren't doing well? Who ain't never got fired? Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough - They went to kiss the ring and they are still being elevated.”