BY MATT BERG & CROOKED MEDIA

WEDNESDAY
JULY 23, 2025

We’re gonna get the drug prices down... 1,500 percent.”

 
— Donald Trump, [reminding young people]([link removed]) everywhere to stay in school. 

FILING SQUAD

Donald Trump’s name is in the Epstein files, his own team reportedly warned him. That “boom” you heard this afternoon was a political scandal going thermonuclear. 

- President Donald Trump rode to power in Washington D.C. on the wave of a hazy conspiracy theory about the deceased child predator Jeffrey Epstein. He and his top MAGAworld lieutenants encouraged his followers to believe that a group of powerful insiders were protecting Epstein’s diabolical associates, that their names were contained in the mysterious “Epstein files” — and that only Trump had the guts to break the scandal wide open. But in a sudden dramatic twist of irony, Trump and his top aides are the ones desperately trying to keep the files under lock and key. And, well… we may have just learned why. 

- The Department of Justice told Trump that his own name is in the Epstein files, according to a [bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal]([link removed]). DOJ officials found his name multiple times — along with other high-profile people — when they scoured the “[truckload]([link removed])” of documents earlier this year, per the outlet. (It’s unclear why his name is in there.) Only last week, Trump straight up [denied that his name]([link removed]) was mentioned in the files at all. I guess Elon Musk [knew what he was talking about]([link removed]) when he said Trump was in there! Hilariously, FBI Director Kash Patel [might’ve been]([link removed]) the one to tell him.

- “As part of our routine briefing, we made the president aware of the findings,” Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in a statement to the [New York Times]([link removed]), which confirmed WSJ’s story. “Nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution.”

- The report sheds a new light on Trump’s desperate attempts to make this story go away. Trump has repeatedly described the “hoax” as “boring,” insisting that there’s no reason to release more documents — even though Bondi promised to do so. It’s the only scandal of Trump’s presidency that has threatened to divide his hardcore, conspiratorial base, and now it’s definitely not going away.
 

- The irony here is staggering, even by the president’s standards. Trump and his closest allies have accused Democrats for years of being secretive swamp creatures who refuse to hold the powerful to account. Now, Trump, Bondi, Patel and many others have become the dragon they promised to slay. “Well… turns out Trump is covering up the Epstein files for the REASON YOU WOULD MOST EXPECT,” Crooked’s Tommy Vietor [tweeted]([link removed]).

 

Trumpworld has failed miserably to make this scandal disappear. In fact, it’s likely to get even worse. 

- As the bombshell story broke, major news came out of Capitol Hill: A House Oversight subcommittee [voted to subpoena]([link removed]) the DOJ to release documents related to Epstein. The full committee also [subpoenaed Ghislaine Maxwell]([link removed]), Epstein’s closest confidante, to sit for deposition on August 11. It looks like a race to get to Maxwell: Deputy AG Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer, is also [planning to meet]([link removed]) with her in the coming days “to ask: what do you know?” he recently [tweeted]([link removed]). Uh, that sounds a lot more menacing now!

- Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is trying to stir up another scandal, in what feels like a distraction from the Epstein case. She released [new documents]([link removed]) accusing the Obama administration of orchestrating a “yearslong coup and treasonous conspiracy” against Trump amid [Russiagate]([link removed]). It’s the [second tranche]([link removed]) of documents she released about the matter this week — which led to Trump accusing Obama of trying to rig the 2016 and 2020 elections. An Obama spokesperson [called the accusations]([link removed]) “bizarre.”

- The bottom line: Trump and Republicans are in deep now. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home for their August recess a day early so they wouldn’t have to vote on releasing the files… but they won’t be able to avoid this issue forever. GOP voters [increasingly disapprove]([link removed]) of how Trump has handled the Epstein issue. It’s difficult to imagine the documents won’t eventually come to light, now that credible reporting indicates that the sitting president’s name is in there. 

“What is it that Trump is afraid of?” Crooked’s Dan Pfeiffer [wrote on Substack]([link removed]). “Given everything else that has already come out about him, it must be pretty bad.”

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WHAT ELSE?

[The Environmental Protection Agency is expected]([link removed]) to release a memo that repeals the agency’s ability to fight climate change. How can it do that? The memo will negate a scientifically established finding that greenhouse gases are dangerous to humans. “The EPA intends to argue that imposing climate regulations on automakers poses the real harm to human health because it would lead to higher prices and reduced consumer choice,” the New York Times reports. Ah yes… having fewer options at the car dealership is just as bad as breathing in polluted air!
 
[More than 100 aid groups warned]([link removed]) that Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip is leading to “mass starvation” among Palestinian civilians. That comes days after 28 governments — including Britain, France and Canada — criticized Israel’s “drip feeding of aid.” Israel’s government has repeatedly blocked food from entering the territory or limited the amount of aid allowed in.
 
[The U.S. and Japan struck a trade deal today,]([link removed]) which would include a 15 percent tariff on Japanese goods. Economists believe that this tariff rate won’t disrupt the global economy, and may serve as a benchmark for future deals. 
 
[Maryland Judge Paula Xinis paused Salvadoran native]([link removed]) Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release from federal custody, minutes after a separate judge ruled that he should be released. In recent hearings, Xinis has said she’s worried Abrego Garcia would immediately be deported again if he’s released from custody. 
 
[The U.S. government plans to spend $160,000]([link removed]) to incinerate nearly $10 million worth of U.S.-funded contraceptives in France, according to Reuters. The Trump administration rejected offers from the U.N. and family planning groups, who wanted to buy the supplies or ship them to poor countries. 

[Several Venezuelan migrants, who the U.S.]([link removed]) deported to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador and were free in a prisoner swap last week, described the prison’s conditions as “hell.” One detainee spoke with reporters after he was freed: “They beat us, they kicked us. I even have quite a few bruises on my stomach,” he said, showing marks on his body.

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[Protestors welcomed Vice President JD Vance]([link removed]) and his family to Nantucket, where he attended a fundraiser for the Republican National Committee. My favorite part of the protests? A massive banner of that [creepy, bald Vance meme]([link removed]).

[Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham]([link removed]) have mended their legendary romance after six decades of will-they-won’t-they rumors. The pair announced a remastered version of their little-known “Buckingham Nicks” album, released before they joined Fleetwood Mac, which will be available for the first time on streaming. This has to be a record for the longest situationship in history, and I’m totally here for it.

[Researchers found an 18th-century shipwreck]([link removed]) that’s likely the Earl of Chatham, a warship that took part in the American Revolution before ending its career hunting whales in the Arctic, near a remote Scottish beach. 

[Scientists located a Barbados threadsnake,]([link removed]) the smallest snake in the world, after nearly two decades of worrying that it might’ve gone extinct. The little guy is so small that he can fit on a coin and can only be identified under a microscope. This is the most intense game of hide and seek I’ve ever heard of.
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