RationalLeft

RationalLeft

@rationalleft.bsky.social

Center-left historian and writer.

238 followers61 following2.9K posts

What have the aliens done with the real Ted Cruz? (And should we care?)

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

Ted Cruz blasts FCC Chair Brendan Carr: "I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we're going to decide what speech we like and what we don't, and we're going to threaten to take you off air if we don't like what you’re saying."

RationalLeft reposted

DOJ's motion "appears to be a 'diversion' from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the Government's possession."

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman just called out the Trump DOJ and denied its request to unseal grand jury materials in the Epstein case. "The government's 100,000 pages of Epstein files and materials dwarf the 70 odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials."

Vlad still doesn't love you, Donnie.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

Donald Trump says "there's a warmth there" between him and Putin. Trump says he didn't call Putin in front of European leaders because he thought that would be "disrespectful to President Putin."

"The law and order party."

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

Less than five years after urging rioters to "kill" police, a former Jan. 6 defendant is working as a senior adviser for the Justice Department. Police bodycam footage introduced at the trial of Jared Wise showed him berating officers on Jan. 6 and yelling "kill 'em." www.npr.org/2025/08/07/n...

The R party is irretrievably broken.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

Senate Republicans just confirmed Jeanne Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. Pirro used her Fox show to question the legitimacy of the 2020 election and became so outspoken that the network canceled one of her episodes out of fear for what she might say.

RationalLeft reposted

NEW from Oversight's Robert Garcia: "The favorable change to the conditions … raises possibility that the Trump Administration and the Bureau of Prisons may be affording Ms. Maxwell preferential treatment in an effort to shape or distort her testimony about Jeffrey Epstein." tinyurl.com/3ste8mhy

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

BREAKING on MSNBC: Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney has confirmed to NBC News that Maxwell has just been moved to a federal prison in Texas.   That prison — FPC Bryan in Bryan, TX — is a minimum-security federal prison camp.

Gee, that doesn't look suspicious or anything, does it?

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

NEW: The scheduled congressional deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell is indefinitely postponed, according to House Oversight Chair James Comer. Comer said he would agree to delay the meeting after her lawyers requested a postponement — citing a pending Supreme Court petition regarding her case.

RationalLeft reposted

NBC News: Ghislaine Maxwell was ineligible to be transferred to a minimum security prison camp — like the one she was transferred to in Texas — because she is a convicted sex offender, according to the Bureau of Prison's own designation policy.

This is what happens when you put an infantile megalomaniac in power with a party behind him too spineless and terrified to ever say no to him on anything. Nice job, voters, and nice job media, with your relentless sanewashing: "Trump IS a normal candidate, ignore what he says!"

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

FLAG: Trump just directed his team to fire the Commissioner of Labor Statistics over the latest jobs numbers reports.

RationalLeft reposted

Replying to @kylegriffin1.bsky.social

"It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received. Ghislaine Maxwell is a sexual predator who physically assaulted minor children on multiple occasions, and she should never be shown any leniency."

RationalLeft reposted

The family of Virginia Giuffre responds to the Maxwell prison move: "President Trump has sent a clear message today: Pedophiles deserve preferential treatment and their victims do not matter."

Gee, they're being really subtle about the corrupt bargain with that monster, aren't they?

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

BREAKING on MSNBC: Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney has confirmed to NBC News that Maxwell has just been moved to a federal prison in Texas.   That prison — FPC Bryan in Bryan, TX — is a minimum-security federal prison camp.

RationalLeft reposted

Breaking Bloomberg: The FBI redacted Trump's name in the Epstein files. "An FBI [Freedom of Information Act] team redacted Trump's name—and the names of other prominent public figures—from the documents, according to three people familiar with the matter." www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

bloomberg.comThe FBI Redacted Trump’s Name in the Epstein FilesThe bureau’s FOIA team tasked with conducting a final review of the records blacked out the names before higher-ups said last month that releasing the documents ‘would not be appropriate or warranted....

RationalLeft reposted

Schumer: "Just now, the White House announced construction of a $200 million White House ballroom that will begin in September. A $200 million ballroom! Where'd this money come from? Did Congress appropriate it? I don't think so. It's almost like DOGE was never about waste."

RationalLeft reposted

"She's not an object; she's a person," he said through tears. "She's a mom. She's a sister. And she was recruited by Maxwell. She wasn't stolen."

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

BREAKING: Sky Roberts, Virginia Giuffre's brother, says the family was "shocked" by Trump's use of the word 'stolen' to describe their sister. He said it makes him wonder how much Trump knew about what Epstein was doing.

RationalLeft reposted

BREAKING: Sky Roberts, Virginia Giuffre's brother, says the family was "shocked" by Trump's use of the word 'stolen' to describe their sister. He said it makes him wonder how much Trump knew about what Epstein was doing.

RationalLeft reposted

The Trump DOJ just dropped a case against restaurant group Fat Brands and its chairman, Andy Wiederhorn — months after the White House took the unusual step of directly firing a career federal prosecutor handling the case. Wiederhorn is a Trump and GOP donor. www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

nbcnews.comDOJ dismisses case against a Trump donor after White House fired career prosecutorTrump allies like far-right influencer Laura Loomer had targeted a prosecutor in the case against Fat Brands and its chairman, Andy Wiederhorn.

RationalLeft reposted

MORE from Virginia Giuffre's family: "The government and the President should never consider giving Ghislaine Maxwell any leniency." “Ghislaine Maxwell is a monster who deserves to rot in prison for the … violence and abuse she put not just our sister Virginia through, but many other survivors."

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

BREAKING: New statement from Virginia Giuffre's family. "It was shocking to hear President Trump invoke our sister and say that he was aware that Virginia had been 'stolen' from Mar-a-Lago. It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal actions."

RationalLeft reposted

New WaPo poll:   16% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling issues related to the Epstein files. 58% disapprove.   63% of Independents disapprove. 24% of Republicans disapprove.

Of course it wouldn't. It's an obvious effort to release selected materials that wouldn't touch on Trump himself. Which doesn't mean the Trump cult wouldn't choose to be "satisfied" anyway.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

The Epstein and Maxwell grand jury transcripts that Trump's DOJ is seeking to make public include testimony from just two law enforcement witnesses — raising questions over whether their unsealing will satisfy the demands of Trump's base for greater transparency on Epstein.

Rs did not allow the whistleblowers to testify. Hearing the truth would have made their preordained obedience even more embarrassing.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

Senate Republicans just voted to confirm Trump lackey Emil Bove to a lifetime judicial appointment.   The vote was 50-49. Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joined all Democrats in voting against Bove. Several whistleblowers accused Bove of misconduct at the Justice Dept.

RationalLeft reposted

Wait a sec. Last year NYC had 171 firearms deaths on a population of 8.3 million. Louisiana had 1,266 deaths on a pop of 4.6 million, which is on the order of 12 times as many. You are twelve times as likely to be killed by a bullet in Louisiana than in NYC.

Acyn@acyn.bsky.social

Kennedy: New York is going to have to face is the issue of whether we should bring back more aggressive stop and frisk which is a perfectly legal law enforcement tactic

Of course it does. The major goal of this regime is to simply repeal facts in favor of MAGA dogma.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

WASHINGTON (AP) - Trump EPA moves to repeal landmark scientific finding that underpins US action to fight climate change.

RationalLeft reposted

A new whistleblower has come forward to challenge the federal judicial nomination of Emil Bove — sharing evidence with lawmakers suggesting Bove misled lawmakers during his confirmation hearing. The info follows revelations from two other DOJ whistleblowers. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

washingtonpost.comWhistleblower evidence suggests Trump judicial nominee Emil Bove misled SenateA third whistleblower has new information about a Justice Department official the president has nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

RationalLeft reposted

They're also seeking comms about how DOJ officials should "approach or address references to Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago" appearing in the Epstein files.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

Norm Eisen and his Democracy Defenders Fund have filed an expansive Freedom of Information Act request with the DOJ and FBI — demanding the release of all Epstein-related files reviewed by Pam Bondi, Todd Blanche, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino. tinyurl.com/5n7rvcrs

RationalLeft reposted

Trump is increasingly frustrated with how his administration's handling of the furor around the Epstein files has dominated the news and overshadowed his agenda. 
His exasperation follows weeks of missteps and no clear strategy from officials. "They seem to be in full-bore panic mode."

washingtonpost.comTrump fumes as Epstein scandal dominates headlines, overshadows agendaThe White House and Justice Department’s response to the crisis has been driven by no clear strategy other than asking the country to forget it and move on, multiple people close to the situation told...

RationalLeft reposted

As Trump visits Scotland: Hundreds of anti-Trump protesters poured onto the streets of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dumfries. One protester, playing bagpipes, carried a sign: "Pipe down Donald." Kids were photographed with signs that read, "Keep orange fizzy, not fascist," with a logo of Irn-Bru.

washingtonpost.comScotland protests Trump – with wit, bite and bagpipesLocals in Scotland, long annoyed by Trump’s golf courses, expressed their outrage as the president visited for the weekend.

They're giving a monster a corrupt bargain in plain public view so she can say what Trump demands she say (and her lawyer is a buddy of the Trump official conducting the "interviews"). It stinks to heaven and beyond.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

Breaking on MSNBC: A senior admin official confirms to NBC News that Ghislaine Maxwell was granted limited immunity by the Justice Department in order to answer questions about the Jeffrey Epstein case.

RationalLeft reposted

NYT confirms: Trump's name appeared on a contributor list for the book celebrating Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday — evidence that he participated in the collection. Trump's name is listed among dozens of Epstein's acquaintances who were asked to contribute messages.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

BREAKING NYT: NYT found that at least once before the infamous '03 birthday book, Trump had written Jeffrey Epstein an admiring note. "To Jeff — You are the greatest!" reads an inscription in a copy of Trump's book 'The Art of the Comeback' that belonged to Epstein. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/u...

RationalLeft reposted

Leader Schumer is calling on the Trump admin to provide a closed-door briefing to all senators on the Epstein files. "This issue isn't going away. It's only getting bigger and more dangerous the longer Republicans ignore it."