Background Briefing: September 3, 2025

On By asher

With Trump’s DoJ and House Republicans on the Side of a Depraved Socialite Instead of the Victims of Her Sex Trafficking, Maxwell’s Survivors Had to Speak in Front of the Capitol Today

We begin with a press conference today in front of the nation’s capitol at which victims of Epstein and Maxwell spoke because House Speaker Mike Johnson will not have them speak inside the building or release the full tranche of files on Epstein and Maxwell instead of the sanitized dribble from the DoJ with references to Epstein’s best friend Trump redacted. Joining us to discuss how Trump’s Justice Department is on the side of a depraved socialite instead of the victims of her sex-traffficking is Lisa Graves, the Founder of the corporate watchdog group True North Research and the managing director of Court Accountability. She has served as a senior advisor in all three branches of the federal government–as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department, as Chief Counsel for Nominations on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and as a Deputy Chief of the article 3 judges division for the U.S. Courts. Her new book, coming out this month, is Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights.

 

Is Trump Cooking Up a Nice Little War to Take Out Maduro as a Distraction From Epstein?

Then with US forces building up off the coast of Venezuela and a so-called drug boat blown up last night in a strike that killed 11 aboard, we speak with David Smilde, a Professor of Human Relations and the Chair of the Department of Sociology at Tulane University. He has researched Venezuela for over 30 years, living there most of that time, and his latest book is, The Paradox of Violence in Venezuela: Revolution, Crime and Policing during Chavismo. He joins us to discuss whether Trump is cooking up a nice little war to take out Maduro as a distraction from the ghost of Epstein that is haunting him.

ICE’s Shameful Deportation of Russian Asylum Seekers Back to Torture and Imprisonment 

Then finally we speak with Dr. Ariel Cohen, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. He is a recognized authority on international security and energy policy, and leading expert in Russia, Eurasia, and the Middle East. He is also a senior fellow at the International Tax and Investment Center where he heads the Energy, Growth, and Security Program. The author of 6 books, including Russian Imperialism: Development and Crisis, his latest is Hour of Truth: The Conflict in Ukraine – Implications for Europe’s Energy Security and the Lessons for the U.S. Army. A friend of prominent Russian dissidents, he joins us to discuss the shameful deportation by ICE of Russians seeking asylum, including soldiers who don’t want to fight in Ukraine who are being sent back to be tortured and imprisoned.