Judge: Release Unredacted Epstein-Trump Files

 

The long-awaited release of unredacted copies of a number of Epstein-Trump files was ordered by a Federal District Judge, in response to the lawsuit filed by journalist / lawyer Katie Pfang citing the Epstein Files Transparency Act.  From ABC News:

"A federal judge is ordering the Department of Justice to turn over unredacted versions of some of the files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or explain why the materials were withheld. 

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan sided with an independent journalist who sued over the withheld materials, concluding that the Trump administration likely violated the terms of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. 

The Department of Justice has until July 2 to either turn over the documents with less redactions -- namely identifying the sender and recipient of some emails and the names of co-conspirators included in a draft indictment -- or explain 'why the redactions should not be removed.'

He also ordered the Department of Justice to publish a log detailing all the redactions. 

Among the documents included in the ruling, Judge Sullivan ordered the DOJ to hand over the underlying notes from the FBI's interview with a woman who accused President Donald Trump of assault. Those claims were uncorroborated, and Trump has denied the allegations. The DOJ has released the interview reports from some of those interviews, but not the underlying notes. 

The Trump administration also was ordered to reveal the sender and recipients of a series of emails that reference the recruiting of young women.  

'The key are the 14 to 15 year old girls--i am a sexual pervert because i say they are now of a reproductive age?' said one email sent to Epstein in 2015. 'My heart goes out to you brother ... being called a sexual pervert is no fun.' 

'She is like Lolita from Nabokov , femme miniature :) So now I should send you her type of candidates only,' another email, sent to Epstein in 2017 said." (our emphasis)

Let's hope the degenerate Malignant Fascist's acts are uncovered behind the redacted black paragraphs, but he's going to do everything to try to stop the release, for obvious reasons.  Compared to the panic in the White House over the release of the Haberman - Swan book "Regime Change," his reaction to the public eventually seeing his interactions with Epstein and his victims should be volcanic.  Stay tuned.

(Gif:  the perverted MF with his friend Epstein, picking out girls) 

 

QOTD: Fox's Existential Peril

 

Former trial attorney and MSNBC host Katie Phang, writing about the existential peril facing Fox "News" in Dominion Voting Systems' open-and-shut defamation lawsuit against them:

"Armed with thousands of pages of texts and internal chats and emails by and between Fox hosts, producers and executives, Dominion now seeks to convince a Delaware judge that a jury no longer needs to hear the case because, as a matter of law, there is no work left to be done to decide whether Fox defamed Dominion. On March 21, both sides will appear in court for oral arguments. As Dominion has argued, 'It is the rare case to grant summary judgment of actual malice, but it is also the rare case where direct evidence of actual malice exists, as it does here.'  

And some legal experts agree: Dominion doesn’t just have the upper hand, it has the truth on its side. If Dominion is successful, then all that would be left to determine is the amount of damages that Dominion is entitled to receive. That’s where the numbers become astronomical. Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in lost profits and reputational harm. But it’s also seeking punitive damages, which are not capped under New York state law and could also be in the billions of dollars. Punitive damages are intended to punish the wrongdoer and to deter others from repeating that egregious conduct. And a multi-billion-dollar punitive damages verdict would not just punish Fox News. It would send a ringing message to all media companies to keep themselves in check and uphold the truth." (our emphasis)

As we've seen recently, Fox usually doubles down when it's being "attacked," even though there is hard evidence -- and lots of it --  of malice in their defamation of Dominion. However, if Dominion is successful as we hope it will be, punitive damages deserve to be in the billions as well because of the damage to the nation the network has done in undermining democracy and its institutions. Let them double down on that.