The TIPS of the Iceberg 🤡 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🤡

Epstein, Maxwell, Combs: The House Oversight Committee, chaired by Republican James Comer, issued a subpoena yesterday requesting that the Justice Department send over "records related to" Epstein.  At the same time, the committee issued subpoenas for a slew of Democrats including Bill and Hillary Clinton; former Attorneys General Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, William Barr, Merrick Garland, Jeff Sessions, and Alberto Gonzales; and former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller.  Notably, they left Trump, who continues to be paving the path for a Ghislaine Maxwell pardon, off their list. To that end, when asked by reporters about the Epstein case and convicted sex offender Maxwell, Trump defended Deputy AG Todd Blanche’s two days tete-a-tete with Maxwell saying that “it’s not an uncommon thing to do that.” There was nothing normal about Blanche meeting with Maxwell, officials at his level at the DOJ don’t meet with convicted felons.  Trump then went on to say that Blanche “probably wanted to make sure that people that should not be involved or aren’t involved are not hurt by something that would be very unfortunate, very unfair.” That’s Trump-speak for saying that Blanche, who was one of those who’d had the FBI and DOJ scour (cleanse?) the Epstein files for all references to him, met with Maxwell to make sure she knows that her future freedom depends on her keeping Trump’s name out of her mouth.  When asked if he had approved Maxwell’s transfer to her new “Club Fed” digs, Trump said that he “did not know about it” and that it’s not an uncommon thing.” He clearly knew about it, and her move was so uncommon that it required a waiver because sex offenders are not entitled to serve their sentences at Club Feds, so again he was lying. Clearly, Sean “Puffy” “P-Diddy” Combs lawyers have noted Trump’s willingness to provide preferential treatment to pedophiles.  They confirmed yesterday that they’ve requested he provide a pardon to their client, something that Trump hasn’t ruled out.  He’s publicly stated he was friendly with Combs in the past but has also said that Combs' past "hostile" comments towards him when he ran for office, makes granting him a pardon more difficult. Surely, Combs whose lawyers offered a $50 million bond to have him released pending his sentencing, can figure out a way to get past that difficulty.  Though far further down the celebrity food chain, Florida Congressman Cory Mills shares a lot in common with Trump, Combs, and Maxwell. Lindsey Langston, his ex-girlfriend who is a Florida Republican state committee member and the 2024 winner of the Miss United States beauty pageant, told authorities on July 14 that Mills had threatened to release nude videos of her while also threatening to harm any of her future romantic partners.  Langston broke off their relationship when she learned that the not yet divorced Congressman had another girlfriend. Mills’ harassment issues could be just the tip of his problems.  Until recently he owed $85,000 to his Washington, DC landlord. His overdue rent obligation which he blamed on problems with his landlord’s online payment system, a modern variation of the “check is in the mail” excuse, was recently settled, though it’s not clear how or which pool of money Mills tapped to satisfy his debt.  In other legal news, AG Pam Bondi has authorized prosecutors to investigate the inquiry into what Trump calls the “Russia hoax” and present a case to a grand jury in South Florida. There’s so much wrong with that, not the least of which is that the hoax which wasn’t a hoax has been investigated multiple times.  The investigation, which is all about creating another shiny diversionary object, kind of like putting the Clintons at the top of the Epstein subpoena list, and Trump’s retribution quest is unlikely to end up throwing anyone in jail, but it will cost everyone impacted lots in legal fees.    

Texas Two Step: Just a week or so ago, Speaker Johnson sent everyone in Congress home early for their August break to avoid dealing with anything related to Epstein.  Apparently, that was legitimate, but Texas’ Democrats leaving the state to protest Trump and Governor Abbott’s efforts to gerrymander the Texas map in a manner that will pretty much guarantee that Republicans win five more seats is the midterms and maybe even maintain control of the House in the 2026 midterms is a federal offense. Trump, Abbott, Texas AG Ken Paxton, and Texas Senator John Cornyn are now calling for the FBI to hunt down and arrest the errant Democratic state representative.  Cornyn who usually is a smidge more moderate than the rest of them has joined them in order to curry favor with Trump whose endorsement he desperately needs to win his upcoming primary where he’s being challenged by Paxton.   

MAHA Not:  Last night HHS Secretary RFK Jr, the brain hole guy who attributes his success in college to his heroin use and who advocates for steroids and raw milk announced that the federal government is calling off around $500 million worth of vaccine development projects that use mRNA technology.  As a result, twenty-two projects that were funded through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, are now being terminated.  RFK asserts that the mRNA technology which allows the medical world to move quickly when faced with pandemics and may also provide for future cancer cures is not safe or adequately effective apparently because he prefers the survival of the fittest approach when dealing with incoming threats.   Oddly enough, he says that he wants to redirect vaccine research to old style vaccines, the ones he also thinks are dangerous and unnecessary because raw milk and vitamin A are so much better.  Another very big step back to the Dark Ages.  Also, remember when Trump promised to mandate that insurance companies pay for IVF, forget about that too. The White House has no plans to follow through on his promise.    

Unintended Consequences: Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) because he was bigly mad about last week’s anemic hiring report. By firing her for releasing statistics that don’t satisfy his “expectations” he has put the credibility of other BLS provided figures at risk, something that could jeopardize the market for Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS).  TIPS are Treasury bonds whose principal and interest payments are adjusted for inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index from the BLS.  They make up around 9% of the Treasury market.  Already concerned about the impact of Trump’s economic and tariff policies on inflation, investors are now expected to further scrutinize the inputs into the calculation of the figures that effect their TIPS’ returns. Uncertainty generally translates to higher risk premiums and that means higher borrowing costs and bigger deficits.  Lastly, Trump has been threatening to federalize Washington DC and now he’s found another reason to justify his quest to do so. Over the weekend, the former 19-year-old DOGE employee known as “Big Balls” was mugged, a victim of an attempted carjacking. To be clear, Big Balls doesn’t appear to have been targeted for his DOGE work.   

#BringThemAllHomeNow