Here is today’s ramble. And here is a transcript, edited for clarity:
Good morning. As you’re watching this, it is Friday morning, June 12th. I am recording on Thursday evening, June 11th, 7 o’clock P.M.
I’m a little tired. I was up late last night. I got up early this morning. I was at a watch party in Kingston where I watched my New York Knicks come back from a 29-point deficit in the second half—the largest comeback in the history of the NBA finals. It was a fascinatingly awesome game, and I just still am having difficulty processing what happened and what I saw. And I’m not alone. I’m not surprised they won. I’m just surprised at how they won, I guess.
But the the Knicks broke the curse. Trump came, he ended the the thirteen game winning streak. And the curse is now lifted because the Knicks have won again. Fans were outside of Madison Square Garden with sage, literally saging it. Also Taylor Swift showed up, which helps. She’s a good luck charm—and, by the way, a Knicks fan for real.
So I’ve been a little bit distracted for the last couple days. And I’ve only just now gotten to read the New York Times piece by Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman, which people are calling a “bombshell.” I don’t think it’s much of a “bombshell,” myself. But I want to go through it real quick, just in case people haven’t read it.
It is an excerpt from their new book, and it talks about how, last summer, during the time of the Epstein files and all the buildup, the President’s circle of advisors were very, very nervous about information coming out—so much so that they had meetings in the Situation Room. Which is, you know, a room reserved for when we’re at war and stuff like that. They were down there. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Vice President JD Vance, Stephen Cheung, the former UFC spokesman that’s now director of communications, Todd Blanche. Other people, you know, called in: Bondi, I think Patel was there, Bongino.
Anyway, the point is that they were down there trying to come up with a strategy about what to do with these Epstein files, because people were wanting the Epstein files to be released. How should they spin this, and what should they do?
So that’s what the article was about. It told this story. There wasn’t much in there that I didn’t know already, in terms of information about the files themselves or what might be in them that they’re trying to hide. It seemed to me like a vehicle through which JD Vance and Dan Bongino could distance themselves a little bit from Trump— and certainly from the Epstein stuff. You know, they’re establishing their “release the files” bona fides.
The idea that JD Vance is some sort of hero for doing this, for trying to release the files when he knows damn well that releasing the files will cause Trump’s presidency to end and him to be president? Let’s just say I’m a little bit cynical. I’m a little bit cynical about that, about JD Vance’s motives.
I thought it was weird that Trump wasn’t there. It was like an intervention without the person that was being intervened. It just seemed odd to me. I don’t know. I’ve never been in the Situation Room. I’ve never had to gather people together to try to quash reports of hanging out with a child sex trafficker. That’s not my bag. Maybe that’s just what’s done? But Trump wasn’t there. And I thought that was interesting.
There’s a lot in the article about process. You know, this thing happened, and then that thing happened, and then Bongino said this, and then Pam Bondi said that, and then Todd Blanche did this. Okay, I don’t actually give a shit. I don’t like any of these people. I don’t fucking care who did what. They’re all awful. They all belong in prison. They will never, ever, ever wipe the stink off them, no matter how much they try or how much access journalism writes about them. It’s just never gonna happen.
What I wanted was something about what’s in the files. What is it that Trump doesn’t want to have released? As you know, I have written a book about this, Another Wonderful Secret: Infrequently Ask Questions about Jeffrey Epstein, in which I tackle that question and a lot of other questions besides.
These guys don’t seem to be tackling the question. Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan don’t seem to be even interested in the question. They’re in the frickin’ Situation Room, you know, where they’re like doing war stuff. And, like, why? What is in the damn files? Is it just because, as Trump said, “If the files get out, some of my friends will get hurt?” Since when does Trump care about his friends? Since when does Trump have friends? Other than perhaps the owner of the Knicks, James Dolan. But that’s neither here nor there.
The point is, I still don’t know why Trump is so insistent on not being transparent. They do mention in the article that the president does not want transparency. Duh. But that’s now, I guess, been confirmed. He doesn’t want transparency. Why doesn’t he want transparency? What is he hiding? What is he hiding? And this article, this alleged “bombshell,” gives me zero information about that. Just zero information.
Do the people in the Situation Room know? Do they know? Todd Blanche must know. Susie Wiles must know. Pam Bondi—she must know. Kash Patel must know. Bongino has to have some idea, because he got out of there as fast as he could. He didn’t want anything to do with it. Now, granted, he was making more money podcasting (lucky him). But he couldn’t get away fast enough.
So something’s there. I think all of these people that are mentioned that were in the Situation Room need to be asked point blank: “What is it that Trump is hiding? Why doesn’t he want the files to be released?” That’s the question. That’s the question. Everything else is noise. That’s the question. They all knew. Does Maggie Haberman know? Does Jonathan Swan know? Are they gonna tell us? Or are they just gonna, you know, leave it for the book?
Anyway, it’s great that the Epstein files are still being mentioned. It’s great they’re still being talked about. It’s great that none of this made anything go away. But we need to know. Reporters need to ask—not just Trump, but all these people that we now we know were in the room: Did the topic ever come up about what Trump did and why he doesn’t want those files released? Why? That’s what I want to know. That’s what everybody wants to know. And until we know that definitively—because we know he’s in the fucking files. He’s not not in the files. We know he’s in the files. The reason we know he’s in the files is because Kash Patel spent almost a million dollars of money in overtime payments to hire FBI agents to redact his name from the files. That’s how we know. And there’s been reporting on it. So he’s in the files. We know he’s friends with this guy.
It’s gaslighting of the highest order. And this article seems to me to be more gaslighting. Because it’s taking the focus off what the focus should be on, right? I don’t care about Susie Wiles. I really don’t. I don’t care about her at all. I certainly don’t care about JD Vance. I care about what Trump did and why he’s hiding it. So until they tell us that? Nobody cares about your book, man.
But this is the state of journalism today, I suppose. I should add also, I didn’t think it was written very well—for a book, which presumably they took time to write. I thought it was mid, the section that I read. There’s grammatical mistakes in it and stuff, which again, you know, I hate when I make grammatical mistakes, but I don’t have a line editor at all. Presumably this has been through a lot of editing, and still a couple of commas were not in parallel. Not a great look. Not a great look.
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. I need the Epstein Files out. I need Trump to go to jail. And I need the Knicks in five. They’re playing again Saturday night. So you know, fingers crossed.
And in the meantime, have an excellent weekend, everybody, and we shall prevail!
TONIGHT!
We have a great guest tonight who has what we all want—ideas on how to fix it.
ANOTHER WONDERFUL SECRET
Thanks to everyone who bought a copy of my new book. I’m told that reviews are critical, so if you don’t mind dropping a review—or even just a starred rating—I’d be obliged.
Thank you!
