Today in Politics, Bulletin 192. 8/22/25 Ron Filipkowski Aug 22 ∙ … The proffer interview recording of Ghislane Maxwell by Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer now Dep. AG Todd Blanche was released today and (Surprise!) she said Trump did nothing wrong: “The president was never inappropriate with anybody. And the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.” … And right after this interview, Maxwell became the only convicted sex offender in the US to be transferred to a minimum security Club Fed and shot to the top of the pardon list. What a sham. … House Oversight Dem Ranking Member Robert Garcia: Ghislaine Maxwell is a convicted sex trafficker and known liar. Her interview with Trump's DOJ lawyer shows she's desperate for a pardon. She claims no involvement in wrongdoing, which is insulting to the girls and young women she victimized and trafficked. She cannot be trusted.” … DOJ also handed over the first batch of Epstein documents today to the House Oversight Committee. Politico: “But it may be a while before lawmakers get the information they want - if ever. DOJ is taking a piecemeal approach to transmitting documents to Capitol Hill. If DOJ follows precedent, both Democrats and Republicans on House Oversight would get access to the materials. While under a typical arrangement, the majority would control its disclosure, either party could release the materials unilaterally.” … Statement from House Oversight: “The Committee intends to make the records public after thorough review to ensure all victims’ identification and child sexual abuse material are redacted. The Committee will also consult with the DOJ to ensure any documents released do not negatively impact ongoing criminal cases and investigations.” … And the benefits for Maxwell continue. Daily Mail: “An inmate at Ghislaine Maxwell's cushy new prison has been abruptly transferred to a higher security facility after publicly criticizing the convicted sex trafficker. Julie Howell, who is serving a one-year sentence for theft, was removed from Federal Prison Camp, Bryan after blasting Maxwell as 'disgusting' in an interview with a British newspaper earlier this month.” … “According to Howell's lawyer Patrick McClain, prison warden Dr. Tanisha Hall called the TX native into her office and informed her she was being moved immediately. Howell was then booted out of Bryan so fast she did not have time to collect her medication or her glasses. She is now being held at the grim Fed Detention Center in Houston where the inmates are more violent and the conditions are far worse.” … “In another twist, Howell only decided to speak up because one of her family members was a victim of sex trafficking – the crime for which Maxwell received a 20-year sentence.” … The FBI raided former Trump NSA John Bolton’s home this morning in another attempt by Trump to intimidate and silence one of his most vocal critics. AP: “The FBI searched the MD home and DC office of John Bolton as part of a criminal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information. Bolton emerged as an outspoken critic of Trump after being fired in 2019 and feuded with the first Trump admin over a scathing book he wrote documenting his time in the WH.” … “He was not in custody and has not been charged with any crimes. The searches, seemingly the most significant public step DOJ has taken against a perceived enemy of the president, are likely to elicit fresh alarm that the Trump admin is using its law enforcement powers to target his foes. They come as the admin has moved to examine the activities of other critics, including by authorizing a grand jury investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, and as FBI and DOJ leaders signal their loyalty to the president.” … Trump was asked about the raid today on Bolton: "He's not a smart guy. But he could also be a very unpatriotic guy. We're gonna find out." … Trump was asked if he knew about the raid ahead of time or had any involvement in it: "I could know about it. I could be the one starting it. I'm actually the chief law enforcement officer." … FBI Director Kash Patel posted: “NO ONE is above the law. FBI agents on a mission.” … Dep FBI Director Dan Bongino: “Public corruption will not be tolerated.” … Last December, after Patel was nominated by Trump, Bolton posted this: “Kash Patel doesn’t belong at the FBI. To resolve questions over his integrity and fitness, a full-field FBI investigation, as prior nominees have undergone, is warranted. I regret that I didn’t fully discern Patel’s threat immediately but we are now all fairly warned.” … Bolton then posted later that day: “Too many of Trump’s selections evidence his assiduous search for personal fealty, not loyalty to the Constitution. Kash Patel’s nomination as FBI Director squarely fits this pattern. Senators won’t escape history’s judgment if they vote to confirm him.” … Obviously he got Kash’s attention. He already had Trump’s. … Jonathan Karl: “Less than two weeks ago on This Week, I asked Bolton if he was worried about Trump’s vow to get retribution: Q - So before you go, we're about to talk about Trump's retribution campaign we're seeing at the FBI and DOJ. You're obviously on his enemies list. At least Kash Patel's enemies list. Are you worried that they're going to come after you in some way? I mean, he's hinted at it before.” …Bolton: “Well, I think he's already come after me and several others in withdrawing the protection that we had for the Iranians for the attack on Qasem Suleimani. So I think it is a retribution presidency.“ … House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY): "I've always suspected that the deep state was involved in things that one day hopefully would be discovered and held accountable. I'm glad that the Trump admin is in power and that these people are being at the very least investigated." … Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN): “I can’t help but think about Roger Stone this morning. His house was raided and he was arrested and was paraded in front of the press. I can see him smiling over today’s events.” … One week ago, Trump posted this after Bolton criticized his meeting with Putin in Alaska: "Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin. Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, 'Putin has already won.'" … Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) on CNN: "This episode is disturbing and it seems to confirm Bolton's own prediction that if Trump got back into office, his admin would be consumed with vengeance and retribution against his perceived political enemies." … This isn’t about John Bolton, so whatever you think about him is irrelevant. It is about every person who dares to publicly criticize Trump. It is about intimidating and silencing all of us, and it will work with some. There are going to be many more Boltons in the coming months. … Trump gave another batshit crazy press conference today in the Oval Office, which was theoretically supposed to be about the US hosting the World Cup but veered off into a variety of subjects as usual. He talked about his WH remodel: “You see how this is looking. I can’t tell you how much that gold costs. A lot of money. There is nothing like gold and nothing like solid gold, but with this beautiful - needed it. It had to be representative. When we took it over, it was dirty, not clean.” … He was asked about DOJ starting to send parts of the Epstein files to the House Oversight Committee: “You have a lot of people that could be mentioned in those files that don't deserve to be because he knew everybody in Palm Beach. The whole Epstein thing is a Democrat hoax.” … He then said he wants his good friend Vladimir Putin to attend the World Cup with him: “I was just sent a picture from somebody that wants to be there very badly. He has been very respectful of our country but not so respectful of others. I am going to sign this. Vladimir Putin - who I believe will be coming for the World Cup. That was very nice.” … EU foreign policy chief Kaja KallasIt to BBC: “It is clear that Russia does not want peace. Any promises that Putin has given so far, he hasn’t kept.” On the Alaska summit: “This is what Putin wanted. It was clear before the meeting that he wants the picture, but he got so much more. He got such a welcoming in America. He has achieved what he wanted from this meeting. Putin is just laughing, not stopping the killing but increasing the killing.” … Trump then talked about his military takeover of DC: “After we do this, we will go to another location and make it safe too. Chicago is a mess. That will probably be our next one after this. They are screaming for us to come. African-American ladies, beautiful ladies are saying, ‘Please President Trump, come to Chicago, please.’ I think Chicago will be next, and then we will help with NYC. I have calls from politicians begging me to go to Chicago, begging me to go to NY, begging me to go to LA.” … IL Gov JB Pritzker responded: “Things People are Begging for: 1. Cheaper groceries 2. No Medicaid and SNAP cuts 3. Release of the Epstein Files. Things People are NOT begging for: 1. An authoritarian power grab of major cities.” … Trump was asked if there is a limit to how long he is going to keep troops in the capital: “I don't know if there is a deadline. If I have a national emergency, I can keep the troops there as long as I want. People aren't going to want to have the troops out in 30 days.” … He then suggested he could do a Gaza-like depopulation of DC: “The big question is, how long do we stay? Because if we stay, we want to make sure crime doesn't come back. We have to take care of these criminals. We could take everybody out and you have a great capital. We are going to make DC totally safe. When people come from Iowa, Indiana, all of the beautiful places, they're not going to go home in a body bag." … Prodigal son Donald Trump Jr was on Newsmax talking about it: "Maybe we should roll out the tour to Portland, Seattle, the other what we'd call craphole cities of the country." … Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) who is much braver about criticizing Trump after he announced his retirement: "DC has a crime problem, but where do we stop? Do we honestly think that DC has the worst problem in the US? Do we go to Gary, Indiana? Detroit? Memphis? A red state that's got a crime problem?" … CNN: “SecDef Pete Hegseth has ordered National Guard members patrolling the streets of DC to begin carrying their service weapons as they fulfill President Trump’s crime crackdown in the nation’s capital. The directive from Hegseth represents a notable shift in guidance from the Pentagon, and suggests hundreds of guard troops deployed in DC will soon be carrying weapons despite serving in a support role.” … USA Today: “A pair of new polls gave Trump the kind of data no president wants to see. Just 31% of Americans find Trump trustworthy, a new low for him and down from 38% at the start of his 2nd term, according to an Economist/YouGov survey. A Pew Research survey showed that just 38% of Americans approve of Trump's performance as president, with significant majorities disapproving of his signature ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ his approach to tariffs, and changes he has made to the govt.” … A new Nielsen survey shows that the media age of Fox News viewers is now 69. … Right-wing podcaster Alex Jones is worried about Trump’s health: “At the current trajectory, Trump is going to have some sort of collapse within the next 12 months. I’ve seen a lot of signs of Trump declining. He’s on a lot of the time, but it’s like a light bulb is starting to go out. It gets brighter, it gets dim; it goes in and out.” … Jones talked about Trump’s ankles and hands: “That’s not a good sign for the heart and the rest of the body, because the rest of him—he’s lost weight, he’s not that fat anymore. For everybody that you’ve known that’s having heart problems, that’s not good right there. And they’re getting bigger and bigger.” … “You can watch the decline into the evening, and then also these morning interviews. Late at night, he sounds like he’s drunk. He doesn’t drink, obviously. He’s exhausted. And then it is early in the morning, he doesn’t sound too hot.” … Alina Habba said on Fox she is going to appeal the court ruling that she has been illegally serving as NJ US Attorney since her interim appointment expired: “We will not fall to rogue judges, we will not fall to people trying to be political when they should just be doing their job: respecting the president.” … It’s not really a judge’s job when deciding cases involving the government to “respect the president.” … Mehdi Hasan: “The ‘rogue judge’ in question spent years as a Republican Party official in Pennsylvania and was active in the Federalist Society and National Rifle Association.” … Trump said he will fire Fed Reserve Governor Lisa Cook if she doesn’t resign from her position: “What she did was bad. So I’ll fire her if she doesn’t resign.” … CNBC: “If Trump were to successfully remove Cook ‘for cause,’ he would get the chance to reshape the central bank’s governing board, potentially for years to come. If Trump is able to remove Cook, he would appoint her replacement - effectively ensuring that a majority of the board shares his view of monetary policy. Board members serve 14-year terms.” … “Fed Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte this week publicly accused Cook of mortgage fraud related to claims that she took two different properties as her primary residence at the same time. He sent a criminal referral to DOJ, which revealed that it will investigate Cook. Pulte, a vocal critic of Fed Chair Jerome Powell who has aggressively backed Trump’s calls for the central bank to lower interest rates, has continuously attacked Cook on social media.” … Fed Chair Powell at the Fed’s annual retreat today: "This slowdown is much larger than assessed just a month ago, as the earlier figures for May and June were revised down substantially. But it does not appear that the slowdown in job growth has opened up a large margin of slack in the labor market, an outcome we want to avoid." … Lever News: “IRS documents show conservative propaganda machine PragerU spent $650,000 on a gala at Mar-A-Lago - and soon after Trump targeted PBS for elimination, setting up PragerU to fill the educational void in schools across the country America.” The news is pretty dark today but I am forced to post it all so everyone knows where we are at and what we are up against. I never promised you a rose garden. But there is SOME positive news in the second half of this so stay tuned. Speaking of rose gardens, there is a very refreshing finish to this Bulletin with rock star Jack White’s response to Steve Cheung after he attacked him for criticizing Trump’s WH remodel. I think you will like it so I saved it for last. No Bulletin tomorrow as I am off on Saturdays, but will have the full recap of the weekend on Sunday night. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. … The MAGA Cracker Barrel boycott continues after they angered the snowflakes by removing the old white cracker guy from their logo. Rep. Byron Donalds, who is endorsed by Trump for Gov of FL, got emotional: “In college, I worked at Cracker Barrel in Tallahassee. I even gave my life to Christ in their parking lot. Their logo was iconic and their unique restaurants were a fixture of American culture. No one asked for this woke rebrand. It’s time to Make Cracker Barrel Great Again.” … Gavin Newsom to Meidas: “We can’t do things the way we’ve done. Let’s disabuse ourselves of that. The Democratic Party needs to assert itself. We need to be strong again. Strength matters. People want conviction. They want character. They want a sense of intention and purpose—to give us meaning, to give us a mission. I know some people are offended by our all-caps parody of Trump, but I thought it was time to put a mirror to Trump.” … “I know you may get offended by my 10-pack abs on some of these memes. The point is to make the point of what is going on in this country. You have the President of the US acting like a child, and you’ve got the chatbots on Fox repeating it 24/7, weaponizing his grievances, attacking vulnerable people, traumatizing communities. We need to stand up—all of us—at this moment. Less judgment, more fortitude. Meet this moment, not for ourselves, but for each other, for this country.” … Newsom then mocked the ‘Trump Was Right About Everything’ hat he was wearing today in his press conference. … NYT: “The Trump admin is preparing to lower the recruitment standards for FBI agents, eliciting alarm from many agents who worry that the move will undermine the agency’s primary mission of conducting complex investigations and tracking threats to national security. Under a plan pushed by Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, the FBI will start welcoming new classes of recruits who will receive less training and no longer be required to have a college degree.” … “Instead of spending 18 weeks training at the academy in Quantico, the group of agents tentatively scheduled to start in Oct will receive 8 weeks. The new plan, current and former agents say, seems to be part of a larger effort by Patel to have the bureau focus more on street crime, rather than on complicated cases touching on financial fraud, public corruption and national security. Doing so, they added, will erode the bureau’s reputation as an elite law enforcement agency, known for its selectiveness about its recruits.” … AP: “The Trump admin said it is reviewing more than 55 million people who have valid US visas for any violations that could lead to deportation, part of a growing crackdown on foreigners who are permitted to be in the US. The State Dept said all US visa holders, which can include tourists from many countries, are subject to ‘continuous vetting,’ with an eye toward any indication they could be ineligible for permission to enter or stay in the US. Should such information be found, the visa will be revoked, and if the visa holder is in the US they would be subject to deportation.” … Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who is running for Senate against Jon Ossoff: “It is beyond comprehension that there are 55 million people in this country with a visa.” FACTS: … Immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick responded: “This is completely wrong. 55 million is the total number of people in the entire world who hold visas which allow them to enter the US. The vast majority are tourist visas, which last years. In 2024 alone there were 6.5 million tourist visas issued.” … The Hill: “A fed judge in FL ordered that some of Alligator Alcatraz be shut down and barred the state from bringing in more migrants to the detention facility in a blow to the admin as it ramps up its immigration crackdown. Judge Kathleen Williams ruled FL must halt the expansion of Alligator Alcatraz and the installation of more lighting. She also ordered the removal of all ‘generators, gas, sewage, and other waste and waste receptacles that were installed to support this project’ within 60 days.” … “Williams said the govt must remove temporary fencing to allow Miccosukee Tribe members ‘access to the site consistent with the access they enjoyed before the erection of the detention camp.’ The ruling is a win for environmental organizations that have argued the detention facility poses a danger to the Everglades and the surrounding wildlife. Williams said the project creates ‘irreparable harm in the form of habitat loss and increased mortality to endangered species in the area.’” … FL State Sen Joe Gruters was elected as the new Chair of the RNC after Michael Whatley stepped down to run for Senate in NC against former Democratic Gov Roy Cooper. Joe was a personal friend of mine for 20 years. He went all-in on Trump early in 2015 and I went all-out. So that was the end of that. We didn’t argue about, we just went in different directions from that point forward. Needless to say! … ICE is out with a new recruiting poster. One was on display at an event in DC and Stephen Miller’s wife Katie posted a photo of it. … 78 year old Democratic TX Rep. Lloyd Doggett announced he will step aside for 36 year old Rep. Greg Casar if the new maps combining their districts are upheld by the courts. This is a really amazing move since Doggett has a lot more money in his campaign account and is an icon in the area. Texas Tribune: “Doggett has represented his hometown of Austin for over 50 years state and fed. First elected to Congress in 1994, he survived numerous Republican redistricting efforts throughout his tenure as the number of TX Dems in Congress dwindled.” … Doggett: “I had hoped that my commitment to reelection under any circumstances would encourage Congressman Casar to not surrender his winnable district to Trump. (Casar decided not to move). While his apparent decision is most unfortunate, I prefer to devote the coming months to fighting Trump tyranny and serving Austin rather than waging a struggle with fellow Democrats. If his extreme gerrymandering prevails, I wish Congressman Casar the best.” … Casar thanked him: "Lloyd Doggett is an Austin institution. I've learned so much from him. I'm grateful to him. The fight for democracy continues." … Trump, 17 days ago on his trade agreement with the EU: “They gave me $600 billion. And that’s a gift. That’s not like, you know, a loan, by the way. That’s not a loan that, 3 years comes up, we have to pay it back. There’s nothing to pay back. They gave us $600 billion that we can invest in anything we want. $600 billion to invest in anything I want. Anything. I can do anything I want.” … CNN: “The two sides published a ‘framework’ on Thurs. It’s brief and vague – but it shows there is no $600 billion gift. Rather, the framework includes a clause that says this: “The US and the EU share one of the world’s largest economic relationships, supported by mutual investment stocks exceeding $5 trillion, and intend to promote and facilitate mutual investments on both sides of the Atlantic. In this context, European companies are expected to invest an additional $600 billion across strategic sectors in the United States through 2028.” … Economist Justin Wolfers: “Trump - ‘They gave me $600 billion. And that’s a gift... That’s not a loan... There’s nothing to pay back. They gave us $600 billion that we can invest in anything we want.’ EU and Me on MSNBC: ‘He didn’t get a penny.’ White House spokesperson’s response: ‘Pointless nitpicking.’” … WH Comms Director Steven Cheung responded to rock star Jack White’s criticism of all the gold in the WH: “Jack White is a washed-up, has-been loser posting drivel on social media because he clearly has ample time on his hands due to his stalled career. It’s apparent he’s been masquerading as a real artist, because he fails to appreciate, and quite frankly disrespects, the splendor and significance of the Oval Office inside of ‘The People’s House.'” … White gave a lengthy response: "Listen, I’m an artist and not a politician so I’m in no need to give my answer or opinion on anything if I’m not inspired or compelled, but how funny that it wasn’t me calling out trump’s blatant fascist manipulation of govt, his gestapo ICE tactics, his racist remarks about Latinos, Native Americans, etc. his ridiculous 'wall' construction, his attacks on the disabled, his attempted coup and mob insurrection and destruction of the sacred halls of congress, his disparaging sexist and pedophilic remarks about women, his obvious attempts at distraction about being a close personal friend of Jeffrey Epstein and his inclusion in the Epstein files, his ignorance of the dying children in Sudan, Gaza, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his lack of empathy for military veterans and those struggling with poverty, his attempts to dismantle healthcare, his obvious wimpy and pathetic kowtowing to the dictators Putin and Kim Jong Un, his nazi like rallies, his attempts to sell merchandise and products like Goya beans through the office of the President, his fake 'gunshot to the ear' that he showed no medical records or photographs of, his constant, constant, constant lying to the American people, etc. etc. etc." … “No, it wasn’t me calling out any of that, it was the f*cking DECOR OF THE OVAL OFFICE remarks I made that got them to respond with insults. How petty and pathetic and thin skinned could this admin get? 'Masquerading as a real artist'? Thank you for giving me my tombstone engraving! Well here’s my opinion, trump is masquerading as a human being. He’s masquerading as a christian, as a leader, as a person with actual empathy. He’s been masquerading as a businessman for decades as nothing he’s involved in has prospered except by using other people’s money to find loophole after loophole and grift after grift." … "His staff of professional liar toadies like Steven Cheung and Karoline Leavitt have been covering up and masking his fascism as patriotism and fomenting hatred and division in this country on a daily basis. And I have 'ample time on (my) hands'? That orange grifter has spent more tax payer money cheating at golf than helping ANYONE in the country. Improve. Anything. There is no progress with him, only smoke and mirrors and tax breaks for the ultra wealthy.” … “So maga folk, enjoy your concrete paving over of the rose garden, your 200 million dollar ballroom in the WH, and your gaudy ass gold spray painted trinkets from Home Depot, cause he ain’t spending any money on helping YOU unless you fit into his white supremacist country club rich idiot agenda. Wow, he hates who you hate....good for you, be proud of yourselves, how christian of you all. No intelligent person can defend this low life fascist. This bankruptor of casinos. This failed seller of trump steaks, trump vodka, trump water, etc. This man and his goon squad have failed upwards for decades and have fleeced the American people over and over. This professional golf cheat, this grifter who has hundreds of thousands of deaths from his inaction of the pandemic on his hands, this man that the majority of the country somehow were fooled into supporting and voting into office (through the flawed electoral college) and their love of reality TV stars." … "Being insulted by the actual WH that this particular conman leads is a badge of honor to me, because anyone who trump supports and likes is a villain who gives nothing to their fellow man, only takes what can benefit themselves. And no I’m not a Democrat either, I’m a human being raised in Detroit, I’m an artist who’s owned his own businesses like his own upholstery shop and recording label since he was 21 years old who has enough street sense to know when a 3 card monte dealer is a cheap grifter and a thief.” Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images A view of the newly paved Rose Garden is seen at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 6, 2025. US President Donald Trump converted the grass portion of the Rose Garden into a patio space, inspired by his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.