Day: July 9, 2025

The Meltdown In MAGAworld Over the So-called Epstein “Client List”

We begin with the MAGA meltdown over the so-called Epstein “client list” that is roiling Trump’s influencers with Laura Loomer, who is close to Trump in a number of ways calling for AG Pam Bondi to resign for “lying to the American people.” Joining us is James Risen, professor of journalism at the University of Maryland and a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author whose investigative reporting has triggered a series of political firestorms. Among his best-selling books are State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration and Pay Any Price: Greed, Power and Endless War. Formerly the Senior National Security Correspondent at The Intercept and a former investigative journalist with the New York Times, his new book is The Last Honest Man: The CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, and the Kennedys―and One Senator’s Fight to Save Democracy. We discuss his article at The Guardian, “Maga influencer and de facto national security adviser Laura Loomer holds outsized sway on Trump.”

There is a Vast Amount of Evidence of Trump’s Seedy Ties to the Despicable Epstein

Then we speak with Nina Burleigh about her interview with E. Jean Carroll who is yet to get the millions Trump owes her from a court judgement against him for sexual assault. She is a senior editor at The New Republic, best-selling author, documentary producer, and publisher of the Substack American Freakshow. An adjunct professor at New York University’s Arthur J. Carter Journalism Institute, her journalism has been published widely and she has written seven books, the latest of which includeVirus: Vaccinations, the CDC, and the Hijacking of America’s Response to the Pandemic and Golden Handcuffs: The Secret History of Trump’s Women, and she has a new novel, Zero Visibility Possible. She is the Producer of a documentary series on Apple TV, “Epstein’s Shadow” and we discuss her article at The New Republic, “E. Jean Carroll Speaks—and She’s Throwing Darts All Across Trumpworld.”

The Pentagon Budget Has Doubled Since 2000 With Trump’s Big, Bad Bill’s Extra $156 Billion Pushing it to $1.06 Trillion

Then finally we look into how the Pentagon budget has doubled this century with a 99% increase since 2000 and a recent addition from Trump big, bad bill that added $156 billion, pushing defense spending to $1.06 trillion with private defense firms receiving $2.4 trillion of the $4.4 trillion allocated between 2020 and 2024. Joining us is Stephen Semler, Co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute, a think tank that works to align U.S. foreign policy with working-class interests. He also writes Polygraph, a data journalism newsletter and has previously worked in the international humanitarian response to Syria, U.S. federal budget authorizations and appropriations, and policy analysis and advocacy. He has a new report at Brown University’s Costs of War Project, we discuss “Profits of War: Top Beneficiaries of Pentagon Spending, 2020 – 2024.”