Jason Cohen 🇺🇸
@JasonJournoDC
🚨NEW: Stephen A. Smith shares advice he got from TRUMP that he has "NEVER FORGOTTEN"🚨
"He said, not just 'Know your worth,' but 'Go for it. Go for it all. Always pursue the MOST!'"
"He said, 'The moral of the story is: The more you convince someone to invest in you, the more they must work diligently to ensure your success. Don't come cheap.'"
@DailyCaller
Last edited
5:53 PM · Feb 25, 2026
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530.
https://x.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2026792616004571284?s=20
At least 10 FBI staffers who worked on Mar-a-Lago documents case are fired, sources say
By Sarah N. Lynch
Updated on: February 25, 2026
At least 10 FBI employees who worked on former Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into President Trump's retention of classified records after he left the White House in 2021 were fired on Wednesday, multiple sources told CBS News.
The firings cameafter Reuters reported that the FBI had subpoenaed records of phone calls made by FBI Director Kash Patel and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles when they were still both private citizensas part of Smith's probe into Trump.
The Reuters article quotedPatel, who alleged that the FBI had secretly subpoenaed his phone records "using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited casefiles designed to evade all oversight." The Reuters article added that it had not independently verified any of Patel's claims.
Patel did not provide any evidence of wrongdoing by the staff who were terminated.
Special Counsel Jack Smith oversaw two federal probes into now-President Trump. One case alleged he unlawfully tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, while the other focused on his retention of classified documents and efforts to obstruct the Justice Department when it asked him to return the files.
All of the FBI agents and analysts who were fired on Wednesday were involved with the classified documents case.
CBS News confirmed with a source familiar with the matterthat Wiles' records were reviewed as part of the documents case, but was unable to verify whether Patel's were. In the case involving the 2020 election, known as Arctic Frost, Patel's records were not subpoenaed, the source added.
CBS News has reached out to the FBI for comment.
The FBI Agents Association, which represents current and former agents, condemned the firings in a statement, saying they violate FBI employees' due process rights.
"These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau's ability to meet its recruitment goals—ultimately putting the nation at greater risk," the group said.
Smith's dual investigations into Mr. Trump led to the first federal criminal indictments against a former president in U.S. history. The classified document charges were dismissed by a federal judge in Florida in mid-2024 on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed, and Smith dropped the 2020 election charges after Mr. Trump won the 2024 race.
Since then, the Trump administration has taken aim at federal employees who worked on the two cases. The Justice Department fired a group of prosecutors who worked on Smith's team, and the FBI has fired agents involved in the Arctic Frost election investigation.
The investigations into Mr. Trump drew another round of controversy late last year, after the GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that the FBI obtained several Republican lawmakers' phone records as part of the Arctic Frost probe. Those records included basic information about who the lawmakers called in the days surrounding the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, but didn't include the contents of their phone calls.
Mr. Trump called for Smith, former Attorney General Merrick Garland, former FBI Director Christopher Wray and other officials to be "prosecuted for their illegal and highly unethical behavior" in October.
Attorneys for Smith called his actions "entirely lawful, proper and consistent with established Department of Justice policy."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/at-least-10-fbi-staffers-who-worked-on-mar-a-lago-documents-case-are-fired-sources-say/
Mario Nawfal
@MarioNawfal
🚨🇺🇸🇨🇳 Former Air Force Major Gerald "Runner" Brown arrested for training Chinese military pilots without authorization.
Brown was an F-35 instructor pilot with 24 years of experience flying F-4s, F-15s, F-16s, and A-10s.
He traveled to China in 2023 and spent his first day answering questions about the U.S. Air Force for three hours.
He coordinated with Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese national who previously pled guilty to hacking U.S. defense contractors.
The Air Force trained him to defend America.
He allegedly used that training for the PLA instead.
Source: DOJ
8:59 PM · Feb 25, 2026
·222.4K
https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/2026839606251983095?s=20
FBI Investigated Susie Wiles and Kash Patel Phone Records, Secretly Recording Wiles Conversations with Her Lawyer in 2022 and 2023
February 26, 2026 | Sundance |
According to media reports and statements from FBI Director Kash Patel, both Patel and Susie Wiles had their telephone records subpoenaed by the FBI in 2022 and 2023 when both were private citizens. This is during the time when Donald Trump was being investigated by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Within the reporting by Reuters, atleast one phone call between Susie Wiles and her attorney was recorded by the FBI without her knowledge. As the story is outlinedWiles’ attorney was working with the FBI and knew the conversation was being captured, Wiles did not.WTF?
FBI Director Kash Patel has reportedly fired 10 FBI agents who were involved in the process of reviewing and intercepting communications as part of their work on the Jack Smith case. Internal FBI offices are not happy with Patel’s action against those officials.
(REUTERS) – The FBI subpoenaed records of phone calls made by Kash Patel and Susie Wiles, now the FBI director and White House Chief of Staff, when they were both private citizens in 2022 and 2023 during the federal probe of Donald Trump, Patel told Reuters on Wednesday.
Reuters is the first to report on the FBI’s actions that took place during the Biden administration, largely when Special Counsel Jack Smith was investigating whether Trump had interfered with the 2020 election and had hidden classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, according to Patel. Smith was appointed to take over that probe in November 2022.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/
The EU Energy War Against Hungary Escalates – Orban Puts Military Defenses Around Critical Infrastructure
February 25, 2026 | Sundance |
The collective war being carried out by Ukraine and Brussels against Hungarian energy systems is escalating. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is now putting military defenses and security forces around critical infrastructure.
ORBAN: We will not give in to blackmail! I have ordered increased security for critical energy infrastructure.
The Ukrainian government is exerting pressure on the Hungarian and Slovak governments through an oil blockade. They will not stop there, as they are preparing further actions to disrupt Hungary’s energy system. Hungary cannot be blackmailed!
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/02/25/the-eu-energy-war-against-hungary-escalates-orban-puts-military-defenses-around-critical-infrastructure/
Orbán Viktor
@PM_ViktorOrban
We will not give in to blackmail
I have ordered increased security for critical energy infrastructure.
The Ukrainian government is exerting pressure on the Hungarian and Slovak governments through an oil blockade. They will not stop there, as they are preparing further actions to disrupt Hungary’s energy system.
Hungary cannot be blackmailed
https://x.com/PM_ViktorOrban/status/2026662954679074851?s=20
(If the EU and Ukraine continue this, President Trump will not be happy.)
Polls Open in England’s Tinder Box Special Election That Promises Nail-Biter Three-Way Finish
Oliver JJ Lane26 Feb
Residents in the towns of Gorton and Denton in Manchester are voting to select their next Member of Parliament in a three-horse race that has grown too close to call.
Campaigning is all but over in Gorton and Denton, a by-election (special election) called after the Labour incumbent of 20 years resigned from Parliament on health grounds following a scandal.
Gorton and Denton is a new constituency created in 2024, but its constituent parts have traditionally been Labour strongholds going back a century. Nevertheless, the Labour Party of Sir Keir Starmer is struggling nationally and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has been topping the polls for months.
Both Labour and the insurgent hard-left Greens have positioned themselves as the party best situated to prevent Farage getting another Parliamentary seat, and whether either will succeed or if they have only split the left wing vote will be revealed in the early hours of Friday morning after the votes are counted. The Associated Press reflects the three-way race between the Greens, Labour, and Reform is “too close to call”.
Indeed, the Green Party has accused Labour of being irresponsible for campaigning at all, such is the risk they perceive from a Reform win. Prime Minister Sir Keir, meanwhile stepped into the bounds of the incendiary earlier this week when he predicted the Gorton and Denton area will “descend into hostility” if Reform wins.
And each of those parties have, in a sense, everything riding on this vote. For Labour’s Starmer, to lose a traditionally hardcore Labour seat amid an avalanche of other scandals and issues could be the death of his leadership. The fact the Prime Minister himself went to campaign in the seat this week has, depending on perspective, been taken as a sign of desperation to throw everything at the seat, or a signal of quiet confidence that Labour believe they’re going to make it.
For the Greens, victory means proof of concept for what has been called a new sectarian politics, the most naked-yet expression of the emerging alliance between the Islamic voting bloc and the Marxist left. For Reform, it’s confirmation that months of national polling wasn’t a mirage, a boost to their electoral momentum, and a crucial extra seat in Parliament.
Polls close at at 2200 and the result is expected before sunrise Friday morning. The candidates are:
Sir Oink A-Lot (The Official Monster Raving Loony Party)
Nick Buckley (Advance UK)
Charlotte Cadden (Conservative Party)
Dan Clarke (Libertarian Party)
Matt Goodwin (Reform UK)
Sebastian Moore (Social Democratic Party)
Joseph O’Meachair (Rejoin EU Party)
Jackie Pearcey (Liberal Democrats)
Hannah Spencer (Green Party)
Angeliki Stogia (Labour Party)
Hugo Wils (Communist League)
NO WONDER THE UK IS F’ked UP. A lot of parties there!
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/02/26/polls-open-in-englands-tinder-box-special-election-that-promises-nail-biter-three-way-finish/
FBN’s Brenberg: Dems Should Let ICE in Jails Where It’s Easy if They Think Agents Lack Training
On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “The Bottom Line,” co-host Brian Brenberg said that if Democrats believe ICE agents don’t have enough training, they should let them into places like jails where apprehending people is far easier.
While speaking with Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Brenberg said, “Democrats, they always complain about chaos on the street from ICE, or these guys don’t have enough training.Well, you could solve all of those problems if you let these agents go to the places where you can easily apprehend criminal illegal migrants. The solution lies in the hands of the people who complain about the chaos, Congressman. Do they not see that contradiction, or do they just not care?”
Van Drew responded, “They don’t care. They create the chaos, and then their answer is more chaos. And they think they have another answer, which even increases the chaos more.”
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/02/26/fbns-brenberg-dems-should-let-ice-in-jails-where-its-easy-if-they-think-agents-lack-training/
Registered Child Sex Offender Running for City Council in California
A registered child sex offender will be running for city council in California, prompting outrage from local residents.
Rene Campos was arrested and charged with possession of child sex abuse material in 2018. According to the California Post, he “pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge.” SinceCalifornia law removes a resident’s right to vote only if they are currently in prison for a felony conviction, Campos was is able to run for public office, much less register to vote.
“Rene Campos announced this week he will run for the District 7 seat on Fresno City Council.He pleaded with voters to overlook his twisted past, which includes being charged for possession of child sex abuse material,” per the Post.
Local residents have decried his candidacy. Nav Gurm, a small business owner also running for District 7, called the past crime disqualifying.
“I think it should be a disqualification to serve in public office,” said Gurm. “If I’m the next councilmember in District 7 and I can’t show up to a school site, how can I best represent the people in the neighborhoods I want to serve?
“If someone is a registered sex offender they can’t be on campus at a school site, how are you going to be able to fulfill the duties of the job?” Gurm added.
(https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/02/26/registered-child-sex-offender-running-for-city-council-in-california/
Registered sex offender seeks to join race for Fresno City Council
A registered sex offender has launched a Fresno City Council campaign to represent District 7. Rene Upfront about his status as a registered sex offender, Campos is not running from his past as he runs for office.
2:48
(https://youtu.be/cFbWqVWEpaY
Maduro’s Lawyer Says U.S. Blocking Venezuelan Govt From Paying His Legal Fees
Christian K. Caruzo26 Feb 2026
(Why would the US allow a criminal drug runner, terrorist etc, get money from VZ, to try to fake he’s not guilty of anything)
American lawyer Barry Pollack accused the Trump administration of not allowing the Venezuelan government to fund his representation of deposed socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, a report Wednesday indicated.
Pollack, known for having represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in the past, is presently representing Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores at the ongoing drug trafficking case in New York presided by District Judge Alvin Hellerstein.
Politico reported that on Wednesday Pollack filed a letter to Judge Hellerstein dated February 20 alleging that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had granted an exception to the U.S. sanctions on Maduro that allowed the nation’s government to pay for the deposed dictator’s representation fees, but that the license had been amended “less than three hours later,” revoking authorization of the receipt of defense costs from the Venezuelan government.
The lawyer argued that, “Under Venezuelan law and custom, the government of Venezuela pays the expenses of the President and First Lady.” (It’s not US law toward VZ!)
“Counsel explained that the government of Venezuela has an obligation to pay Mr. Maduro’s fees, Mr. Maduro has a legitimate expectation that the government of Venezuela would do so, and Mr. Maduro cannot otherwise afford counsel,” Pollack wrote.
He further argued that, “by its failure to allow the government of Venezuela to pay Mr. Maduro’s defense costs, OFAC is interfering with Mr. Maduro’s ability to retain counsel and, therefore, his right under the Sixth Amendment to counsel of his choice.” (Do foreign criminal leaders have our sixth amendment right?)
Maduro and Flores were arrested in a U.S. law enforcement operation in Caracas on January 3 and are presently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Hours after his arrest, Maduro pleaded “not guilty.”
“I am innocent. I am not guilty,” Maduro said through a translator on January 5. “I am a decent man. I am still president of my country.”
The United States has not recognized Maduro as the legitimate President of Venezuela since 2019 after the now-deposed dictator clung to power by holding a highly fraudulent election in 2018 in which only handpicked “rivals” were able to run against him.
Maduro then sought to extend his hold on power by holding a fraudulent election in July 2024. Although Maduro and the Venezuelan socialist regime claim he “won” the 2024 election, no Venezuelan authority has publicly revealed any documentation or evidence that can substantiate the claimed “victory” at press time. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia and a majority of Latin American nations do not recognize Maduro’s fraudulent 2024 “victory,” among other countries.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed to members of the Senate Foreign Affairs committee at a January hearing that Maduro was an indicted drug criminal and not the “legitimate president of Venezuela.”
Maduro and Flores are due back in federal court for a hearing on March 26.
(
https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2026/02/26/maduros-lawyer-says-u-s-blocking-venezuelan-govt-from-paying-his-legal-fees/
‘Such a Bust’: Dems Walked Right into Trump Trap at SOTU
Wednesday on “The Alex Marlow Show,” host and Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow talked about the State of the Union.
(Did Trump play the Dems by talking about serious issues seized their crazy side. You could tell when he looked in their directions many times when the news was bad)
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/02/25/such-a-bust-dems-walked-right-into-trump-trap-at-sotu/
Dems Walk Right into Trump Trap at SOTUVideo
36:30
On today’s episode of The Alex Marlow Show, Alex delivers a comprehensive, start-to-finish review of the State of the Union—cutting through the applause lines, policy promises, and carefully crafted messaging to focus on what actually matters.
From the opening tone to the closing pitch, Alex breaks down the administration’s strategy, the economic and national security claims, and the political positioning behind every major moment. Who scored points? Who dodged tough questions? And what does it all signal heading into the next phase of the political cycle?
https://youtu.be/UP6HJFGK214
Late-night host Stephen Colbert mocked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for his “silent defiance” of President Trump’s State of the Union Address, calling it “jack squat.”(Jeffries is retarded)
Colbert issued his attack on Jeffries during a live episode on Tuesday following the president’s speech, responding to Jeffries urging “his members in the chamber to not make a scene.” Colbert described this as “silent defiance.”
“Which I believe is a bold rebrand of doing jack squat,” Colbert joked. “As Martin Luther King once said: ‘Shhh.'”
Colbert was responding to Jeffries advising his caucus before the State of the Union Address that they had two options, silent defiance or refusing to attend.
“The two options that are in front of us in our House [are] to either attend with silent defiance or to not attend and send a message to Donald Trump in that fashion, which will include participation in a variety of different alternate programming that is going to take place in and around the Capitol complex,” he said.
Despite Jeffries’ advisement, several Democrats were disruptive during the speech, most specifically Rep. Al Green (D-TX)when he was ejected for holding a sign that read, “Black people aren’t apes.”
“I wanted the president to see it, and he saw it, and I told him, Black people are not apes, and for him to do what he did was racist, and he knows it. But sometimes we have to let him know in the public that we know it,” Green told CNN shortly after being ejected.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) also disrupted the president’s speech when she yelled, “You have killed Americans,” and later, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
The president clapped back to say, “These people are crazy. I’m telling you, they’re crazy.”
(https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/02/25/stephen-colbert-mocks-house-minority-leader-hakeem-jeffries-for-silent-defiance-during-sotu-doing-jack-squat/
LIVE Monologue: A Dark Speech Filled With Divisive Lies | USA Women's Hockey Gets A Better Offer
AIdro_m65RzRXyEAIlIg5E84TdMr1Q-8uVzCoAjGOR4GjR9AnCQ=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
11:00
https://youtu.be/-vyFiSJn5Qs
>>24310564. The funny thing is Colbert is stupid, trying to give advice to Jeffries and the Dem party don’t get how stupid they are
Pam is afraid any one named in release, will reveal she was always on the left, “so the one that charge crimes in the US says she doubt her DOJ will charge the criminals.
Honestly she is worst!
Trump should stop complimenting her! It’s not believable.
Iran says talks with US paused, to resume later today in Geneva
Iran’s foreign ministry said the Geneva talks with the US were intense and serious, with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi present, and would resume around 18:00 local time after consultations with both capitals.
• US officials told the Wall Street Journal that Washington demanded Iran dismantle key nuclear sites and hand over enriched uranium during talks in Geneva.
• Iranian state media and Oman’s foreign minister said the US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva are paused and will resume later on Thursday.
• US and Iran negotiators are in Geneva for the third round of Oman-mediated talks amid a massive buildup of US warships and aircraft in the Middle East.
Iranian authorities have shifted multiple universities to online-only classes amid concerns that student protests could continue and spread across campuses.
•US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Iran continues to pose a “very grave threat” to the US, citing both its nuclear ambitions and extensive missile and naval capabilities.
https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202602250842
How Bill and Hillary Clinton are preparing for their landmark depositions about Jeffrey Epstein
Jeff Zeleny, Annie Grayer, MJ Lee,
Updated: 5:18 PM EST, Wed February 25, 2026
A quarter-century after leaving the White House, Bill and Hillary Clinton are hours away from one more legal showdown with House Republicans as they prepare to testify in a congressional investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
For the Clintons, the depositions this week mark a stunning reversal. After months of vigorously fighting to avoid testifying in what they denounced as a Republican plot against them, they agreed to comply only after the House was moving toward a bipartisan vote to hold them in criminal contempt of Congress.
The Clintons are expected to be joined by their lawyers, David Kendall and Cheryl Mills, who have been working through painstaking details of what areas could be covered during questioning. It was unclear who else from the Clinton team would join them at their respective depositions, officials said.
The depositions are scheduled to take place in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons live. Hillary Clinton will appear on Thursday and Bill Clinton on Friday. The location for the testimony was negotiated between Kendall and Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, in hopes of avoiding the indignity and precedent-setting move of summoning a former president to Capitol Hill for questioning.
“No one is accusing the Clintons of any wrongdoing,” Comer said. “We just have a lot of questions.”
To prepare, the Clintons have been hunkering down — at times together, at times separately — to refresh their memories about the Epstein years, but even more to defend themselves and plan lines of attack against potentially hostile questioners. Republicans have sought to make the Clintons a package deal, but their separate depositions underscore the potentially vast differences between any information the two could offer to the committee.
Bill Clinton traveled on Epstein’s private plane at least 16 times, according to a CNN review, and was pictured with women in a jacuzzi in files released by the US Department of Justice. He was also pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and accomplice in trafficking victims. Hillary Clinton has said she never met Epstein.
Bill Clinton has never been accused by law enforcement of any wrongdoing related to Epstein, and a spokesperson has repeatedly said he cut ties before Epstein’s arrest on federal charges in 2019 and was unaware of any crimes.
The former president and his lawyers are heading into their session on Friday with the expectation that he could be infor a long day of questioning, according to a source familiar with the process, possibly even longer than the five hours that Epstein associate Les Wexner sat for last week. The depositions will be videotaped and Republican committee staff are aiming to release the video in a matter of days after the interviews are completed, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The Clintons and members of the House Oversight Committee have agreed to five topic areas for the depositions, a person familiar with the agreement told CNN. They are:
Epstein survivors and lawyers representing them told CNN that they believe it is important for the Clintons — the former president, in particular — to testify. In interviews, they stressed that the presence of an individual in the Epstein files and their cooperation with Congress does not indicate wrongdoing.
Still, Bill Clinton should share anything he knows about Epstein’s past with lawmakers, several survivors and lawyers said.
“He was connected to Epstein. He was the president of our country. I think the victims want to understand that link a little better,” Jennifer Plotkin, a lawyer who represents numerous Epstein survivors, told CNN. “Nobody should be above the law. If you’re served with a valid subpoena, you should comply.”
Spokespeople for the Clintons did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday….
https://lite.cnn.com/2026/02/25/politics/how-bill-hillary-clinton-are-preparing-depositions-jeffrey-epstein
Hillary Clinton set for deposition with House Oversight Committee in Jeffrey Epstein probe. 1/2
Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to sit for a similar deposition Friday.
Feb. 26, 2026, 5:00 AM
Members of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee are scheduled to question former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday as part of their investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The closed-door interview, which will be videotaped, is set to take place in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons have a house. The committee will meet with former President Bill Clinton the next day for a similar deposition.
The in-person interviews come after months of bitter back-and-forth between the former first couple and the committee, which at one point threatened to hold the Clintons in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena it issued in August.
The committee initially scheduled their depositions for October. Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., has accused them of having given the panel the runaround since then.
The Clintons had volunteered to testify at a public hearing, but Comer said the committee's practice is to conduct closed-door interviews with witnesses before it holds hearings.
The Clintons have repeatedly denied wrongdoing related to Epstein and have not been accused of any crimes in connection with him.
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee who lost the presidential election to Donald Trump in 2016, has said they have little information to offer the panel about Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 as he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. She has accused the committee of using her and her husband to try to distract from Trump's ties to Epstein.
"Other witnesses were asked to testify.They gave written statements under oath. We offered that," she told the BBC in an interview last week. "Why do they want to pull us into this? To divert attention from President Trump. This is not complicated."KEK
Undated photographs of Bill Clinton with Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell were released in December in the first tranche of documents made public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a 2025 law that requires the Justice Department to make public its investigative files relating to Epstein and Maxwell.
It’s unclear where the photos were taken. Bill Clinton's spokesperson, Angel Ureña, has said he traveled on Epstein’s plane four times in 2002 and 2003 on trips for his Clinton Foundation.
It's unclear whether Hillary Clinton, who did not go on those trips, ever met Epstein, who pleaded guilty in Florida to a state charge of soliciting a minor in 2008 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. She told the BBC this month that she does not believe she met him.
Hillary Clinton did, however, know Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of federal sex trafficking charges, including conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
In an unusual interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last year,Maxwell said that “President Clinton was my friend, not Epstein’s friend,” and that she was the one who asked Epstein to let Bill Clinton and other foundation members and guests use his plane in 2002.BS!
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/hillary-clinton-deposition-house-oversight-jeffrey-epstein-probe-rcna260435
2/2
It's unclear when Maxwell first met the former president. She said she was introduced to him by a mutual friend after he left office in 2001.She said she met Hillary Clinton at some point in either Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, and "I went to the house in Chappaqua a few times."
Maxwell did not say when those trips were. She told Blanche that Bill Clinton was "very close" friends with billionaire Ted Waitt, whom she said she dated from 2003 to 2010.
Maxwell and Waitt both attended Chelsea Clinton's wedding in 2010. Maxwell was also spotted at a 2013 Clinton Global Initiative annual meetingin New York City, years after she had been publicly accused in a civil suit of helping Epstein groom and sexually abuse minors.
It's unclear when she last saw or communicated with Hillary Clinton.
In her BBC interview, the former secretary of state said that she'd met Maxwell on "a few occasions" and that "thousands of people go to the Clinton Global Initiative."
In her interview with Blanche, Maxwell was asked when she had last gone on a trip with or seen Bill Clinton.
"It was in — was late 2000 and, I don’t know, ’16, ’17, ’18, something in — it was in Los Angeles," she said. "I think he was hosting something or he was at an event and I was in L.A. and I had dinner with him."
In a sworn declaration sent to the Oversight Committee last month and obtained by NBC News, Bill Clinton said, "I have no recollection of when I first met Ms. Maxwell, though I believe she was working for Mr. Epstein at the time." He added that she "later began a personal relationship with a mutual friend."
"I have no recollection of exactly when I last saw her, but it was many years ago," Bill Clinton said in the declaration, which was first reported by The New York Times.
A separate declaration from Hillary Clinton used the same language about Maxwell, and both Clintons said they had "no personal knowledge" of either Epstein's or Maxwell's "criminal activities."
Maxwell told Blanche that she never saw Bill Clinton or Trump doing anything inappropriate.
After her interview with Blanche, a former Trump attorney, Maxwell was transferred from a prison in Florida to a lower, minimum-security prison campin Texas.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/hillary-clinton-deposition-house-oversight-jeffrey-epstein-probe-rcna260435
Trump Leaves China Out of His State of the Union – Except to Mock Them
John Hayward25 Feb 2026
President Donald Trump delivered the longest-ever State of the Union (SOTU) speech on Tuesday night,but his marathon performance had no room for China, other than a humorous aside he made about unreliable Chinese military hardware during his remarks on Venezuela.
Trump’s dig at China came when he was saluting the astounding competence and valor of the “really great heroes” who executed the raid to capture narco-terrorist dictator Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela.
Trump singled out Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover, who “planned the mission and was the flight lead in the cockpit of the first helicopter,” for special praise.
“Eric steered the Chinook under the cover of night and descended swiftly upon Maduro’s heavily protected military fortress.This was a major military installation, protected by thousands of soldiers and guarded by Russian and Chinese military technology,” the president said.
“How did that work out? Not too good,”he added impishly.
That was it for references to America’s biggest geopolitical rival – a significant change from Trump’s 2025 address to a joint session of Congress, which included a few slams at China’s unfair trade policies, a promise to use tariffs to bring American factories from China back to the United States, and a vow to keep China from taking control of the Panama Canal.
The government of Panama annulledseveral key port contracts held by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison the day before Trump delivered his 2026 SOTU, so Trump could have taken a victory lap if he had wanted to. He might also have mentioned his effortsto get China included in a new trilateral nuclear arms control treaty with the United States and Russia – an effort which recently included disclosing the existence of a secret Chinese nuclear bomb test.
It seems likely that in addition to having many other fish to fry in the vast and sizzling-hot iron skillet of his marathon State of the Union address,Trump chose not to antagonize China in the midst of current trade negotiations.
Bloomberg News noted on Wednesday thatTrump’s speech was the first time since 2005 that China has gone unmentioned in a State of the Union address.
“It’s not clear why Trump didn’t address the US’s economic ties with China,but the timing of the omission is notable. He is planning to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in late March, the first trip by an American president since Trump’s last visit in 2017,” the report observed.
Bloomberg News speculated that the recent Supreme Court ruling against Trump’s tariffs – which the president did mention during SOTU – might have prompted Trump to step a bit lightly around China on Tuesday night, as he will face Xi with less leverage on trade than he anticipated.
“Trump doesn’t want to pick a fight with China in an election year. Stability in U.S.-China relations is a priority for the president at least this year and potentially for the rest of his term,” Teneo managing director Gabriel Wildau told CNBC on Wednesday.
Asia Group partner George Chen noted that China’s Foreign Ministry has yet to nail down the exact dates for Trump’s planned visit to Beijing in late March, so Trump might have decided to “stay cautious” for the moment, to ensure his meeting with dictator Xi Jinping takes place.
APAC Advisors CEO Steven Okun said a “deal on tariffs with China, end of March or early April,” could lower U.S. consumer prices and give Trump’s messaging on “affordability” a timely bump ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
CNBC noted that Chinese state media returned Trump’s benign neglect by staying fairly quiet about SOTU, aside from a few social media posts highlighting Democrat opposition to Trump’s remarks.
https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2026/02/25/trump-leaves-china-out-his-state-union-except-mock-them/