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I appeared on Piers Morgan's show today with MAGA hacks who, for the first time, couldn't spin, lie, or shamelessly obfuscate for Trump, because they know he's in the Epstein Files, and he's stuck.

In the video above, I present my 3.5-minute case. I also added another segment where I mention the 4 leaks that Trump and MAGA can’t plug when it comes to the Epstein files, no matter how much they retract or keep hidden from the public.

Two months after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, a government-backed campaign has led to firings, suspensions, investigations and other action against more than 600 people. Republican officials have endorsed the punishments, saying that those who glorify violence should be removed from positions of trust.

By Raphael Satter and AJ Vicens

The balls

One reporter with whom Epstein connected frequently was Landon Thomas Jr., a financial journalist at the New York Times. Thomas exchanged dozens of emails with Epstein between 2015 and 2018, years after the financier’s conviction for soliciting a minor.

In the emails, Thomas tipped off Epstein about inquiries by other reporters and claimed to have vouched for Epstein, whom he said he called “one hell of a guy.” In one exchange, Thomas coached Epstein on how to repair his reputation.

The relationship was a two-way street. Epstein, who died in a Manhattan federal jail in 2019 awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking, was reportedly a valued source for Thomas. In the emails released Wednesday, one of the topics Epstein fed information to Thomas was about Donald Trump’s allegedly lecherous behavior. In the exchanges — through his trademark style of lowercase letters and abundant typos — Epstein alludes to Trump’s predilection for young women.

The convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein apparently served as a behind-the-scenes adviser to the former Trump official and Maga influencer Steve Bannon during an August 2018 media campaign to defend Trump and his agenda, and to promote Bannon’s media ventures.

Text messages released by the House oversight committee on Wednesday detail a six-day exchange between the men from 17 to 23 August, and show Epstein coaching Bannon on television appearances and political messaging.

One side of the conversation is sent from an iMessage account associated with an Epstein email address, and while the name of Epstein’s correspondent is redacted in the documents as released, contextual clues – including references to Fox News appearances, his August 2017 firing from the White House and his work on the documentary Trump @War – make it clear the other participant is Bannon.