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Today in Politics, Bulletin 317. 2/27/26
… James Comer lied about the deposition of Bill Clinton to the media regarding what the former president said about Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein: “President Clinton went on to say that President Trump has never said anything to me to make me think he was involved. And he meant with Epstein.”
… Oversight Dems immediately issued a statement calling out Comer for his lies: “Let's be clear: today, President Clinton raised more questions about the relationship between Trump and Epstein - specifically with regards to the reason their relationship ended. Claims that President Clinton fully exonerated Trump are wrong and a mischaracterization.”
… “In fact, President Clinton confirmed that he knew Trump and Epstein had a close relationship and said Trump reported having ‘great times’ with Epstein. The full transcript, unedited, should be released immediately.”
… Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL): “I’m happy to clarify. President Clinton brought up a conversation he had with Trump in NYC re: Epstein. President Clinton said that Trump told him that he had a falling out with Epstein due to a land dispute. This directly refutes Trump’s claims about why he fell out with Epstein.”
… CBS: “A photo released last month by DOJ as part of the Epstein files that showed Howard Lutnick with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Epstein’s island in the Caribbean was removed from DOJ’s website before being restored Thursday night. The photo, which has been authenticated by CBS News, shows Epstein, Lutnick, and 3 other men standing over an oceanside cliff.”
… “The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, a nonprofit that preserves digital online content, downloaded the photo from the DOJ’s website on Jan. 31. It was also archived by Jmail, a web interface that was created to archive Epstein content. The photo was released under file No. EFTA01230639 on the DOJ’s website. At some point it was removed and the link pointed to a ‘Page not found.’ However, within hours of publishing the story, it was restored.”
… DOJ later issued a statement claiming that the Lutnick photo was removed because it was “part of a batch of files that had been flagged for nudity.”
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… Trump took questions outside the WH today on his way to Texas:
On whether Howard Lutnick will testify if subpoenaed by House Oversight on Epstein: “Howard would go in and do whatever he has to say. He’s an innocent guy.”
… Maxwell Frost: “Trump has said many times that he knew nothing about Epstein’s crimes. If he doesn’t, how does he know that Howard Lutnick is a ‘very innocent guy’?”
Trump was asked about references to him in the files: “I don’t know anything about the Epstein files. I’ve been fully exonerated.”
… Molly Jong-Fast: “And by ‘exonerated’ he means his DOJ is removing documents that mention him.”
Q: Are you concerned that Bill and Hillary Clinton getting deposed could set the precedent for you and your family to be deposed: “I don’t like seeing him deposed.”
Q: “Gov. Pritzker posted on social media that you’re planning to steal the midterm elections. How do you respond? Trump: Well, he’s gotta focus on crime in his state.”
On Cuba: “The Cuban govt is talking with us. They’re in big deal of trouble. Maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba. We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
On using military force against Iran: “It’d be nice if we could do it without, but sometimes you have to do it with. We have the greatest military anywhere in the world. There’s nothing close. I’d love not to just it but sometimes you have to.”
Q: “Is there a risk that a strike could turn into a long, drawn out conflict in the Middle East? Trump: When there’s war, there is a risk in anything, both good and bad. I’ve had tremendous luck myself.”
… CNBC: “Wholesale prices rose at a faster-than-expected pace in Jan, countering hopes that inflation was easing. The core producer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.8%, more than the 0.6% gain in Dec and well ahead of the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 0.3%. On an all-items basis, headline PPI rose 0.5%, also above the forecast for 0.3%.”
… “For the full year, core wholesale prices accelerated 3.6%, while the headline index posted a 2.9% gain. Both figures are well ahead of the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation goal and suggest that rising prices are still a factor for the US economy.”
… Kobeissi Letter: “January PPI inflation comes in at 2.9%, above expectations of 2.6%. Core PPI inflation unexpectedly rises to 3.6%, above expectations of 3.0%.
Core PPI inflation is now at its highest level since July 2025. PPI inflation is running hotter than expected.”
… RFK Jr. offered his solution to Americans for record high beef prices: “Most of the cheap cuts of meat are inexpensive. You can buy liver or the cheaper cuts of steak that are very, very affordable.”
… Kennedy then went on Joe Rogan and said he disagrees with Trump’s executive order to ramp up production of glyphosate: “It’s not something that I was particularly happy with, let me put it that way mildly. I’ve spent 40 years fighting pesticides. Pesticides are poison. They’re designed to kill all life. It’s not a good thing to have in your food. But I also understand the president’s point of view.”
… Trump in PA in Aug 2024: “Energy costs, all of it, air conditioning, heating, all of it, including gasoline, will drop by more than 50% within the first 12 months. Under the Trump economic plan, we will cut your energy prices in half. Mark it down, you can get very angry at me if we don’t do it.”
… HuffPost: “Electricity costs are up more than 7% from the time Trump took office through last month. Heating oil was slightly higher, a half percentage point increase, while natural gas was a whopping 87% more expensive year over year. Overall, the Fed’s ‘household energy’ price index increased 6.6%.”
… Economist Justin Wolfers: “He lied. Also this isn’t something presidents can do. He knows this.”
… Arbor Research: The US lost 15,000 farms in 2025. The number of farms is at its lowest level in 7 years, with Texas losing the most number of farms last year.
… Trump also posted that he wanted a do-over from the Supreme Court on their tariff decision: “The recent Decision of the Supreme Court concerning TARIFFS could allow for Hundreds of Billions of Dollars to be returned to Countries and Companies that have been “ripping off” the USA for many years, and now, according to this Decision, could actually continue to do so, at an even increased level. I am sure that the Supreme Court did not have this in mind! Is a Rehearing or Readjudication of this case possible???”
… The answer to that is no.
… AP: “The US military used a laser Thursday to shoot down a ‘seemingly threatening’ drone flying near the U.S.-Mexico border. It turned out the drone belonged to US Customs and Border Protection. The case of mistaken identity prompted the FAA to close additional airspace around Ft. Hancock, about 50 miles southeast of El Paso. The military is required to formally notify the FAA when it takes any counter-drone action inside US airspace.”
… “It was the second time in two weeks that a laser was fired in the area. The last time it was CBP that used the weapon and nothing was hit. That incident occurred near Fort Bliss and prompted the FAA to shut down air traffic at El Paso airport and the surrounding area. Rep. Rick Larsen and two other top Dems on the House Transportation and Infrastructure and Homeland Security committees said they were stunned when they were officially notified.”
… “‘Our heads are exploding over the news,’ the lawmakers said in a joint statement. They criticized the Trump admin for sidestepping a bipartisan bill to train drone operators and improve communication among the Pentagon, FAA and DHS, which includes CBP. ‘Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence,’ they said.”
… Kristi Noem posted: “Performing my role as Secretary of DHS has shown me just how real and dangerous the deep state really is. Elon Musk helped us find that a few DHS staff had installed spying software on the phones and computers of myself and other political hires. We found secret, secure rooms with hidden files that we turned over to attorneys.”
… “Under the leadership of President Trump, DHSgov is returning to the standard of excellence and behavior we expect our govt agencies to function at. We will root out actors who do not have the interests of America in mind.”
… Talk about a desperate attempt to distract from the story about the “mystery bag” she left on the plane after her flight with Corey Lewandowski.
… ESPN: “Brady Tkachuk, the Ottawa Senators captain and a Team USA gold medalist, said he didn’t appreciate the AI-doctored video released by the WH that made it appear he was disparaging Canadians. The video, published Sunday by the WH’s official TikTok account, featured doctored footage from a Tkachuk brothers’ news conference at the 4 Nations Face-Off last Feb.”
… “While ‘Free Bird,’ the goal song for Team USA, played in the background of the video, Brady Tkachuk was made to say, ‘They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating fuckers a lesson.’ The clip has 11.1 million views on TikTok and has been widely viewed on other social media platforms.”
… Tkachuk: “Well, it’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving. I’m not in control of any of those accounts. I know that those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it. It’s not my voice. It’s not what I was saying. I would never say that. That’s not who I am, so I guess I don’t like that video because that would never come out of my mouth, and never had that thought.”
… Someone forgot to tell him that when you get in bed with Trump, getting exploited for political propaganda is part of the deal. Enjoy the ride.
No Bulletin tomorrow because I’m off on Saturdays. We are going to a Billy Joel tribute show. I’ve been to a lot of concerts in my life and the two artists I wish I had seen but haven’t are Elton John and Billy Joel. Not seeing the man himself, but this is supposed to be the next best thing, and entertainment options are limited in Maine this time of year!
I will be back with the Bulletin recapping the weekend on Sunday night. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. Thank you to everyone who reads, shares and subscribes to my work.
… It appears we are about to go to war with Iran. US Embassy Jerusalem: “The Dept of State authorizes the departure of non-emergency US govt personnel and family members of US govt personnel from Mission Israel due to safety risks. In response to security incidents and without advance notice, the US Embassy may further restrict or prohibit US govt employees and their family members from traveling to certain areas of Israel. Persons may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available.”
… US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee released this video message to staff: “Those who wish to leave should do so TODAY. There is no need to panic, but for those desiring to leave, it’s important to make plans to depart sooner rather than later. Focus on getting a seat to anyplace from which you can then continue travel to DC.
But the first priority will be getting expeditiously out of country.”
… Deadline: “Netflix has thrown in the towel and won’t be raising its offer for Warner Bros. to match a rival bid by Paramount - game-changing news that caps several days of action around the bidding war. The move comes two hours after Warner Bros. Discovery said it determined that the latest offer it received from Paramount was superior to the $82.7 billion deal it signed with Netflix on Dec 5.”
… “Netflix still had 4 business days to match Paramount’s offer but decided, why wait? Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters regretfully took the company out of the running, saying, ‘We’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive.’”
… NYT OpEd: “Larry Ellison is already a major stakeholder in CBS and Paramount. Now CNN and HBO are in his sights, and a big TikTok deal is close. If all goes as anticipated, this tech billionaire, already one of the richest men in the world and a founder of Oracle, is poised to become one of the most powerful media and entertainment moguls America has ever seen.”
… “Ellison’s expected incursion into Hollywood and Big Media, if successful, could also go well beyond what other tech moguls like Jeff Bezos and Marc Benioff have attempted through their acquisitions of WaPo and Time magazine. For those men, the acquisitions were more like expensive hobbies.”
… Ellison is up to something very different: transforming himself into a media magnate. Along with his son, David, he will have a material stake in a powerful social media platform, an iconic Hollywood movie studio and one of the largest content streaming services, as well as two of the country’s largest news orgs. Given Ellison’s friendship with Trump, an increasingly emboldened president could be getting an extraordinarily powerful media ally.”
… CA AG Rob Bonta to Deadline: “Paramount/Warner Bros is not a done deal. “These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny - the CA DOJ has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review. The film and entertainment industry not only has historical importance to our state, it also is a critical sector that buoys the state’s economy of CA and touches the lives of Americans daily.”
… Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT): “Paramount should enjoy its growing news monopoly while they have it because when Democrats win back power we are going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates. All of them.”
… Fox host Maria Bartiromo to FCC Chair Brendan Carr: “Patriotism is spreading to on air broadcasts. Mr Chairman, you announced your Pledge America Campaign, encouraging broadcasters to air more pro-America content, such as starting each day with the Star Spangled Banner or Pledge of Allegiance. Tell us more. Carr: We’re in the midst of a great revival. Trump is truly the political colossus of our time.”
… Welcome to the era of state-controlled media.
… AP: “NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented Trump with a mock newspaper front page during a visit to the WH on Thursday to discuss massive new housing investments in the city. It’s a tactic designed to appeal to Trump, who is keenly aware of his media coverage and, aside from being an avid viewer of cable news, is known to voraciously consume coverage in the local NYC publications.”
… “Anna Bahr, Mamdani’s comms director, said the mayor’s team created a mock front page and headlines for Trump to look at and demonstrate what kind of reaction new federal housing investments could bring. The mock NY Daily News front page says ‘Trump to City: Let’s Build’.”
… “Bahr said Trump was ‘very enthusiastic’ about Mamdani’s proposal, which would allow 12,000 new affordable homes to be built at Sunnyside Yard in Queens by securing more than $21 billion in federal grants to build a deck over the rail yard site. The mayor’s office estimates that the project could create 30,000 jobs and would be the biggest housing and infrastructure investment in more than 50 years.”
… Quinn Oswin had this viral post on X after the meeting: “It’s so fucking funny that Trump cut his political teeth by accusing Barack Obama of being a Muslim socialist who was born in Africa, but the second he met and ACTUAL Muslim socialist who was born in Africa he fell head over heels in love.”
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… Spectator: Intercepted phone calls and messages from senior Russians ridiculing Trump have been shared by the British with the Americans: “We have continually shown them intelligence that shows the Russians are lying. The Russians are privately mocking Trump over his naivety about Putin’s intentions. Putin doesn’t want to end the war.’”
… Roll Call: “Congress added nearly $34 billion above the president’s fiscal 2026 defense request for more than 1,000 research and procurement programs favored by lawmakers but not necessarily by the military, according to a new report. The $33.97 billion in a fiscal 2026 omnibus spending law is a dramatic surge in appropriations for what are known as program increases in the defense budget.”
… “The $34 billion in program increases in the latest Defense spending bill is more than double the cost of formal earmarks in all the non-defense fiscal 2026 spending bills combined. The $34 billion total includes funding that members added above the requested amount for a program - or, more commonly, funding for a program DOD’s top leaders never sought at all, even if far-flung military labs sometimes may have pushed for them.”
… “The spending increases are also, for the most part, not slated for systems that US generals and admirals sought in their ‘unfunded priorities lists’ of items that are important but did not make the president’s request. Nearly 90% of the additions were not responses to something on one of these so-called wish lists.”
… “It is not clear today to what degree the unrequested program increases are leading to useful weapons. That is partly because of the opacity of the process, critics say. The funds are inserted by lawmakers - mostly anonymously - with virtually no public debate.” From the report: “The solution is basic transparency. Lawmakers should welcome the opportunity to justify their proposals and identify themselves as sponsors, unless of course they have something to hide.”
… Greg Lukianoff, CEO of FIRE, on Pete Hegseth’s threats to the AI company Anthropic: “The govt can absolutely decide not to contract with a company that won’t build the product it wants. That’s normal procurement discretion, and nobody should pretend otherwise. What’s NOT normal is escalating from ‘okay, we’ll take our business elsewhere’ to ‘we’re going to brand you a supply chain risk unless you change your internal rules.’”
… “That label is supposed to be about genuine security vulnerabilities—foreign control, compromised systems, coerced access—not about an American company drawing lines around what it will and won’t build. Using it as a pressure tactic is a dangerous category mistake.”
… “If the govt uses extraordinary leverage—blacklisting-style designations, emergency authorities, or other coercive tools—to force a private company to generate outputs it would not otherwise produce, that’s not ordinary contracting anymore.”
… “The reported threat to invoke the Defense Production Act takes it into even darker territory. The DPA is meant to prioritize or compel production for genuine national-defense needs, not to function as a ‘rewrite your model’s rules or else’ mechanism. Using it that way would be a breathtaking precedent: the govt effectively reserving the power to commandeer the policies of a leading AI company when it doesn’t like the answer ‘no.’”
… “That should worry anyone who cares about free speech—and about reality-testing. Once the govt normalizes coercive pressure to make AI systems behave as it prefers, you’re no longer just talking about procurement choices. You’re talking about govt power shaping one of the core tools we increasingly use to understand what the world actually looks like.”
… Trump then made an unhinged post about Anthropic, that the DOD uses almost exclusively with a $200 million contract: “THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS! That decision belongs to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military.”
… “The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution. Their selfishness is putting AMERICAN LIVES at risk, our Troops in danger, and our National Security in JEOPARDY.”
… “Therefore, I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!”
… Hegseth then posted: “This week, Anthropic delivered a master class in arrogance and betrayal as well as a textbook case of how not to do business with the US Govt or the Pentagon. Our position has never wavered and will never waver: the Dept of War must have full, unrestricted access to Anthropic’s models for every LAWFUL purpose in defense of the Republic.”
… “Instead, AnthropicAI and its CEO Dario Amodei, have chosen duplicity. Cloaked in the sanctimonious rhetoric of “effective altruism,” they have attempted to strong-arm the US military into submission - a cowardly act of corporate virtue-signaling that places Silicon Valley ideology above American lives.”
… “Anthropic’s stance is fundamentally incompatible with American principles. Their relationship with the US Armed Forces and the Federal Govt has therefore been permanently altered. In conjunction with the President's directive for the Federal Govt to cease all use of Anthropic's technology, I am directing the Dept of War to designate Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security.”
… “Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the US military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic. Anthropic will continue to provide the Dept of War its services for a period of no more than 6 months to allow for a seamless transition to a better and more patriotic service.
… My main concern here is Elon Musk. We do NOT want Musk’s Grok being used at the Pentagon on weapons systems and surveillance of Americans with no restrictions or regulations.
… Politico: “US Agency for Global Media, which runs broadcasts including Voice of America, offered employees a ‘deferred resignation program,’ pushing them to resign as involuntary reductions in force stall in court.”
… Email to employees: “As part of the broader workforce reforms initiated by President Trump, the govt is undergoing significant restructuring to enhance efficiency, accountability, and performance. The agency is offering another opportunity for employees to voluntarily transition out of federal service through the Deferred Resignation Program.”
… “The agency’s latest move to offer buyouts to employees, comes as Judge Royce Lamberth is set to rule in early March on the legality of USAGM CEO Kari Lake’s authority and earlier actions attempting to lay off a majority of the staff for the govt-funded broadcaster, as well as the future of the lawsuit. VOA employees view the new offer as a sign that Lake may lose in court.”
… One VOA employee: “If they thought they were winning they wouldn’t be bribing us to quit.”
… Patsy Widakuswara, an employee currently on admin leave and the main plaintiff in the ongoing lawsuit between Lake and VOA employees: “This latest move is not going to deter us from moving forward with the next phase of our fight: ensuring that VOA serves our global audience beyond the handful of languages currently on air, delivering journalism, not propaganda.”
… Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy on Venezuela: “The Trump admin is getting too cozy with communist Delcy Rodriguez. She can’t be trusted. Every time President Trump says he’s working great with her, he drops 5 points in South Florida, where people know the dangers of communism.”
… Who could have predicted this was going to happen? Well, I did relentlessly. South FL Republicans and Rick Scott have been lying to their constituents about this. Trump doesn’t care about Venezuelans - he just wants to steal their oil and destroy their fishing industry.
… Punchbowl: “Mike Johnson told a room of GOP donors at a party retreat in Florida that Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL) may have a terminal diagnosis, according to multiple sources present. Dunn, 73, has said he will not resign before the end of his term. He is not running for reelection to his strong GOP seat in the Florida panhandle.”
… NBC: “Union leaders in recent days have urged Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to end their support for Gov. Janet Mills in Maine’s Senate primary, pointing to what they see as her weaker record with labor. UAW President Shawn Fain had a conversation with Schumer this month to discuss the race. The UAW is supporting Mills’ opponent, Graham Platner, while Schumer and the DSCC are supporting Mills.”
… “Fain discussed with Schumer what he views as the ‘shortcomings’ in Democratic leaders’ approach to the 2026 midterms, ‘particularly their failure to adequately listen to working-class voters.’ Fain cited the Maine contest as an example.”
… Michael Monahan, VP of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ 2nd District, which includes Maine, sent a letter to DSCC leadership, “to express our deep concern regarding the DSCC’s ongoing involvement in the 2026 Maine Democratic Senate Primary. We strongly urge the DSCC to refrain from intervening further in this primary. Your committee’s support for Janet Mills is troubling to our membership for several reasons.”
… Conservative talk-show host Erick Erickson wasn’t pleased with Casey Means’ confirmation hearing performance: “Republicans in the Senate are on the verge of supporting a practitioner of witchcraft for Surgeon General who won’t recommend vaccines, but will recommend hallucinogens to connect to the spirit realm, and who channels moon power magic.”
… What could go wrong?
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