An Epstein Files Backlash Cometh? Shutdown Over. A Refreshing Candidate. Voter IDs & Integrity. Warm Collectivist: Zo’s Wardrobe. And More
Well, it was waiting to happen.
“The Epstein Files Fallout Hits the Innocent” is the headline on a must-read editorial in the Wall Street Journal. The Editors write:
Though the Justice Department sought to redact sensitive information, Congress mandated disclosure in 30 days. The Journal reports that last week’s documents initially failed to black out the names of at least 43 victims of Jeffrey Epstein, “including many who haven’t shared their identities publicly or were minors when they were abused by the notorious sex offender.” Some of their addresses or email addresses were posted….
Meantime, heinous accusations are circulating against prominent people, without any evidence they’re true. Since Epstein died in 2019, prosecutors have had time to chase real leads. The Epstein emails that show elites privately cozying up to a wealthy sex offender are embarrassing, but the government isn’t supposed to be in the business of posting scandalous raw evidence without a verifiable criminal case.
“There are allegations in there that, with 10 or 15 minutes of work, you can realize have no basis in fact,” Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, told CNBC. Protecting accusers, he said, matters for prosecuting future offenders, since it’s “very, very difficult to get victims to come forward in these types of situations.”
Knowing that much of the material consisted of investigations that are generally kept private to protect the innocent, Congress clamored incessantly for more, accusing the Justice Department of slow-walking the release. There was always the hope of destroying a political rival. “No one knows what’s true, false, or misleading in the millions of files released. But reputations will still be ruined,” Robby Soave argues in a The Free Press piece headlined, “Will We Regret the Release of the Epstein Files?”
The Soave piece is included in an Epstein package this morning. It includes a good story by Nellie Bowles on why she decided to pass on a chance to interview Epstein. Bowles recalls, “I googled Jeffrey Epstein one last time and popped my head above my cubicle to ask colleagues: ‘Should I really do this? Would I be killed inside the largest home on the Upper East Side?'”
Completing the Epstein package, “Jeffrey Epstein and Our Pre-Revolutionary Moment,” by Rod Dreher, argues that “the revelations in the Epstein files—and the furor that surrounds them—have ominous echoes in history.” Dreher starts with the far-fetched accusations:
Do I believe that Bill Gates might have gotten the clap from a Russian hooker and tried to hide it from his then-wife, as Epstein himself alleged in a (perhaps unsent) email to Gates? That’s not impossible. Gates denies the claim, but then, who really knows?
Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton faced a contempt of Congress charge if they refused to testify about their relationship with Epstein before James Comer’s House Oversight Committee. I can’t imagine what the Committee hopes to get other than a shot at humiliating the wily couple. “Russia Loves the Epstein Files” in Unherd proclaims that Putin & Co. are lapping up the dirt as evidence of Western debauchery. The New York Times, meanwhile, wallows in more Epstein.
The Hill reports that the partial government shutdown ended yesterday when Congress sent a spending package to President Trump. “What shutdown? It turns out that large parts of the federal government were ‘shut down’ for the past three days,” Powerline responds. Twenty-one Republicans refused to back Speaker Johnson in passing the package. We could see another partial shutdown in two weeks over ICE funding.
We’ve read several stories like this one by David Harsanyi on Virginia Governor Spanberger’s “bait and switch”—campaigning as a centrist and governing left. So, I want to tell you about one of the most interesting—and truly refreshing—campaigns in Virginia in recent memory. Alexandria civil leader and retired real estate professional with 45 years in the field, Julie Lineberry, is running for state Senator from Virginia’s 39th district in a special election on February 10th.
Lineberry, the epitome of the “happy warrior”—make that vivacious happy warrior—has never run for elective office before, but she has a long list of civic credits: former Chair and Secretary of the Alexandria Electoral Board, President of the Inova Alexandria Hospital TWIG Auxiliary, and a lifelong advocate for women and girls, honored by The Alexandria Commission on Women with the Marguerite Payez Award for Outstanding Community Service. Lineberry has a long-time involvement with Girl Scouts—including leadership roles at the local, regional, and national levels.
So, what does Lineberry make of men in women’s sports? “As I have done in my volunteer life,” she said in a questionnaire, “I will work for safety and respect for women and girls with safe spaces in our schools, recreation center locker rooms and changing areas. I will fight to protect against challenges to Title IX and the success of girls, young women and women in sports as well as in business, government and politics.”
And a big challenge in current politics? “It’s time to get back to civility and common sense. As a realtor, I practiced the art of negotiation,” Lineberry told the Alexandria Times. “You listen to people, and you come out with a win-win for everyone. It doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. Can it be done? If I can teach Brownies and Girl Scouts survival skills – how to build fires, survive in the outdoors – then I believe I can help the politicians in Richmond learn to meet in the middle.”
Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer insists that it is racist to ask for an ID to vote and vows that Democrats will kill the SAVE bill, which requires just that. Eighty-three percent of Americans favor a voter ID. And yet … Republicans won’t have an easy time requiring one. “I am loath to give credit to my friends in the Democratic Party for much, but I will say this about them: They know how and when to circle the wagons to get things done in Congress,” writes Nicole Russell in USA TODAY.
Collectivist Likes His Warmth. The New York Post cover—“You’re Zo Vain“—bears witness to socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s quest for the perfect custom embroidered jacket before tackling the big snow dump that claimed the lives of sixteen New Yorkers:
The fresh-faced mayor’s mad dash for new duds marked just one of several instances where the Democratic socialist leader has made cultivating his image and appearance a top priority, critics said.
“If he used a fraction of the energy spent on his propaganda videos and prop jackets towards running the city, we wouldn’t have people literally dying from the cold, piles of garbage and mountains of snow,” one Democratic operative told The Post.
Mayor Mamdani previously rebuffed offers to meet with charter school advocates. (Maybe he had nothing to wear?) Let’s hope he reads “New York’s Charter Schools Live Up to Their Promise,” by Jason Riley in the Wall Street Journal. “Success Academy in the Bronx has a 90% poverty rate yet has reached a 96% proficiency rate in reading,” the column notes.
“Who Watches the ‘ICE Watchers’?” asks the headline on James Freeman’s “Best of the Web” column this morning. Freeman argues that “disrupting the execution of federal law is not mere protest.”
Good News: He detected Alzheimer’s at 57, soon enough to intervene. Not Just a Pretty Mug: Some Westminster dogs have day jobs. Nick, a Tibetan Spaniel, for example, is a valued aide at a senior living facility. This year’s winner is a Doberman Pinscher named Penny. I’m sure Penny is a nice doggie, but golly, I wouldn’t want a Doberman bouncing towards me at Happy Acres.
