After months of pushback, the House passed a resolution to release the highly anticipated Epstein files.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California co-authored the resolution to release the Epstein files and forced the House vote Tuesday using a discharge petition. Lawmakers forced the floor vote after the petition secured 218 signatories last week, including Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and Massie.

‘Of course we’re for maximum transparency.’

Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana was the lone no vote.

Although only four Republicans signed onto the petition, initially bucking their party, President Donald Trump changed course and encouraged rank-and-file GOP members to vote in favor of the resolution. Republican leadership later followed suit, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) confirming Tuesday that he would vote in favor of the resolution.

RELATED: Mike Johnson changes course ahead of key Epstein vote

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

“As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,'” Trump said in a Truth Social Post Sunday.

Johnson echoed Trump’s message for transparency but mentioned several “dangers” in the current resolution he hopes will be amended in the Senate, including concerns for victims’ privacy and inadequate handling of child sexual abuse materials.

“There’s a handful of Republicans, Judiciary Committee members, and a few others who are really struggling, as I have been, about whether or not they can even vote yes today because of this,” Johnson said during a presser Tuesday. “Because we don’t have an absolute guarantee that this will be fixed in the Senate.”

RELATED: Democrat lawmaker faces censure for ‘colluding’ with Epstein during congressional hearing

Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Despite these concerns, Johnson urged the conference to “vote their conscience.”

“Having now forced the vote, none of us want to go on record and in any way be accused of not being for maximum transparency,” Johnson said. “So the only intellectually consistent position to have right now … is to allow for everyone to vote their conscience and to go on record to say, ‘Of course we’re for maximum transparency.'”

The resolution is now headed to the Senate. If it passes, Trump confirmed that he would sign the resolution into law.

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​Mike johnson, Donald trump, Ro khanna, Thomas massie, Lauren boebert, Nancy mace, Marjorie taylor greene, Senate, Judiciary commitee, House, Oval office, White house, Epstein, Epstein files, Stacey plaskett, Democrat hoax, House republicans, House democrats, Politics 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Tuesday announced action against the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Abbott issued a proclamation that designated the two groups as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations under the Texas Penal and Texas Property Codes.

‘The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s “mastership of the world.”‘

The proclamation explained that the Society of the Muslim Brothers is a transnational Islamist organization that was founded nearly 100 years ago. It noted that the group’s founder, Hassan al-Banna, once stated that “jihad is an obligation from Allah on every Muslim and cannot be ignored nor evaded,” adding that jihad means “the fighting of the unbelievers, and involves all possible efforts that are necessary to dismantle the power of the enemies of Islam including beating them, plundering their wealth, destroying their places of worship, and smashing their idols.”

Abbott’s proclamation also stated that the group’s Eighth Supreme Guide, Mohammed Badie, is serving a life sentence in prison for “plotting an armed insurrection in Egypt.”

Badie “has stated that the organization’s primary goal is to establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world’ and a total reform of all domains of life by resurrecting an Islamic state — or a Caliphate — empowered to forcibly impose Sharia law worldwide,” the declaration read.

It noted that CAIR, also an Islamist organization, was formed as a “front group” in the U.S. for Hamas, according to the FBI.

RELATED: How Islamic ‘charities’ fund terror with YOUR money

KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images

Abbott’s proclamation contended that CAIR is “a subsidiary of the Muslim Brotherhood,” and its members have been “repeatedly employed, affiliated with, and supported individuals promoting terrorism-related activities.”

By designating the two groups as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations, individuals who promote or aid their criminal activities could face heightened penalties, and their affiliates are prohibited from acquiring land in Texas.

RELATED: Exclusive: Chip Roy introduces bill to strip ‘absurd’ tax-exempt status from CAIR, other groups with terrorist ties

Photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images

“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,'” Abbott said. “The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable. Today, I designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations. These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.”

— (@)

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) reacted to Abbott’s declaration, writing in a post on X, “I have long fought against CAIR and Islamists in North Texas who are waging civilizational warfare against our state and nation. Just as I did as Mayor of Irving, every level of government must do everything in their power to stop the expansion of Islamists in our country. They want one thing and that is to get rid of the rest of us.”

“No Sharia courts. No Islamist dominance of neighborhoods. Never let these people take root,” she added.

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A federal court sided with advocacy groups, including the League of United Latin American Citizens, challenging the redistricted map of Texas and ordered that the old map be used for the 2026 election.

The three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas found that challengers to the law would likely be able to prove that it was racially gerrymandered. Two judges ruled in favor, while one dissented.

‘Democrats claiming that redistricting is racist are lying. 4 of the 5 districts the Texas Legislature is drawing will be Hispanic districts.’

“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” wrote U.S. Judge Jeffrey Brown in the ruling. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”

Brown was appointed to the court by President Donald Trump in 2019.

Democrats cheered the decision.

“A federal court just stopped one of the most brazen attempts to steal our democracy that Texas has ever seen,” said Texas state Rep. Gene Wu (D).

LULAC accused the Texas legislature of acting illegally in a previous statement about the case.

“Rather than remedying constitutional flaws in its previous map, lawmakers adopted a new plan that reduces opportunities for voters of color to have an equal voice,” the group said. “The map was pushed through in a rushed, opaque process that shut out meaningful public input and ignored widespread testimony about the harm it would cause.”

The case could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court; however, candidates must file for their campaigns by a Dec. 9 deadline.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott previously denied the accusation that the redistricting was discriminatory.

“Democrats claiming that redistricting is racist are lying. 4 of the 5 districts the Texas Legislature is drawing will be Hispanic districts,” read a statement from his office on social media.

RELATED: CA Republicans sue to stop Newsom’s redistricting scheme — he responds: ‘Good luck, losers’

The other judge who agreed with Brown was appointed by former President Barack Obama, while the dissenting judge was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.

Redistricting in Texas has been used by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to justify redistricting in California in order to counteract the seats that may be gained by Republicans in Congress. The Department of Justice has joined a lawsuit against California on the basis that its gerrymandering scheme is also racially discriminatory against non-Hispanics.

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Two members of LeBron James’ inner circle are being investigated as part of the NBA’s ongoing inquiries into gambling and insider tipoffs.

It’s been nearly a month since the FBI released the shocking indictments of an NBA coach and player, along with a former NBA player.

‘That player was not named in the team’s injury report at the time. James did not play in that game.’

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, current Miami Heat player Terry Rozier, and former NBA player Damon Jones were indicted. Rozier was accused of sharing insider information to gamblers, while Billups was allegedly involved in illegal poker games hosted by Italian mob families; Jones was reportedly involved in both.

Now as the NBA continues its investigation, disaster could be around the corner for the league as Los Angeles Lakers personnel and those in close contact with James have reportedly surrendered their cell phones to an inquiring law firm hired by the NBA.

According to the Athletic, firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz has been contacting NBA teams to ask for cell phones, phone records, and other items. The firm has reportedly sought information from 10 Lakers employees, including assistant trainer Mike Mancias and executive administrator Randy Mims. Both have very close ties to James and reportedly gave up their cell phones voluntarily.

RELATED: NBA coach, former player arrested in Mafia-tied nationwide gambling bust

Randy Mims (L) and LeBron James attend a quarterfinal game of the 2018 NBA Summer League between the Lakers and the Detroit Pistons at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 15, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Mancias, 48, has reportedly been training James for around 20 years, while 50-year-old Mims has been associated with James since he was in high school in Akron, Ohio. James was drafted out of high school at 18 years old in 2003. Mims was described as James’ uncle in a 2003 Sports Illustrated article.

The player connection

The following information reported by the Athletic is circumstantial in nature, and it is important to note that neither James, Mancias, nor Mims have been charged with any crimes.

As part of his alleged betting scheme, former player Jones is accused by law enforcement of selling information about the injuries of two Lakers players to bettors on at least two occasions. In his indictment, Jones is labeled as a coach or teammate of a “prominent NBA player,” described as “Player 3,” whose relationship he abused to sell information to professional gamblers.

According to prosecutors, Jones found out on February 9, 2023, that “Player 3” would not play in a game between the Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks and told someone to place a “big bet” on the Bucks based on Player 3’s absence. That player was not named in the team’s injury report at the time. James did not play in that game.

Furthermore, on January 15, 2024, Jones allegedly sold his knowledge on a “Player 4,” who was allegedly injured. Jones was accused of passing on knowledge that Player 4’s performance would be impacted by the injury in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Federal authorities reportedly said that Jones “claimed to have learned from the trainer for ‘Player 3’ and ‘Player 4’ that ‘Player 4’ was hurt.”

RELATED: Former NBA star Paul Pierce tells men to CHEAT on their girlfriends

The Miami Heat’s LeBron James gets stretched by trainer Mike Mancias during practice for Game 3 of the NBA Finals at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, Saturday, June 16, 2012. David Santiago/El Nuevo Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

More connections, more charges

James’ business manager and known business partner Maverick Carter reportedly told federal agents in 2021 that he bet on NBA games with an illegal bookmaker. In November 2021, Carter told federal agents he “could not remember placing any bets on the Lakers” and also denied placing bets for others, ESPN reported.

Carter revealed he put down about 20 bets on football and basketball games over the span of one year, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. The bookie Carter used, Wayne Nix, pleaded guilty to participating in a large, offshore betting ring.

Carter was named in the aforementioned 2003 Sports Illustrated piece as one of those “closest to James on a daily basis,” along with Mims. At the time, he was described as a former high school teammate who was three years older than James and employed by Nike to “take care of their $90 million man.”

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The Democratic Party, whose unfavorability rating is 58% according to the RealClearPolitics poll average, appears to be consumed by internal squabbles. In the latest, one Democrat’s campaign to shame a colleague has prompted retaliation from other radicals on her side of the aisle.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) introduced a House resolution on Monday to formally rebuke one of her Democratic colleagues, Illinois Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, for allegedly “undermining the process of a free and fair election.”

Garcia filed to run for re-election on Oct. 27. Days later — after the deadline for candidates to file to run for Illinois’ 4th congressional district had passed — Garcia announced his retirement and indicated that he would be withdrawing his nominating petitions.

‘Some people need to learn how to stay in their lane.’

What appears to have really rankled Perez and other Democrats was that while Garcia failed to provide anybody else with a heads-up about his real intentions, he apparently tipped off his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, who managed to file to run in the district at the last minute, ensuring herself an opposition-free Democratic primary. Rep. Garcia subsequently endorsed his chief of staff.

Perez’s resolution, which was also supported by Democratic Maine Rep. Jared Golden, claimed that Garcia’s “actions are beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the United States Constitution.”

Garcia’s office stated, “He followed every rule and every filing requirement laid out by the State of Illinois.”

“It’s not fun to call out a member of your own party,” Perez told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. “But I think it’s important that we’re consistent.”

“Election subversion is always wrong. That’s not how we run things in this country, and that’s not the party that I want to be a part of,” added Perez.

RELATED: Socialism ‘will f**k you’: Bill Maher warns Democrats the radical left is leading party to ruin

US Rep. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia (D-Ill.). Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

Perez attempted last week to have Garcia punished for his underhanded succession play, prompting scorn from Garcia’s Progressive Caucus ally Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), who said of the Washington congresswoman, “Some people need to learn how to stay in their lane.”

Unswayed by the criticism of her peers, Perez made the case for his reprimand on Monday, stating on the House floor, “No one has the right to subvert the right of the people to choose their elected representatives.”

The House advanced Perez’s resolution as the motion to table it failed in a 211-206 vote.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) defended Garcia on Monday, telling reporters, “I do not support this so-called resolution of disapproval, and I strongly support Congressman Chuy Garcia. He has been a progressive champion in disenfranchised communities for decades.”

Congressional Progressive Caucus members, all of whom reportedly stood up on Monday to condemn Perez, are reportedly now working to punish the Washington Democrat for championing transparency and choice in Democratic politics.

A lawmaker and a senior aide familiar with the matter told Axios that Progressive Caucus members are considering a resolution that would accuse Perez of lying about not taking corporate PAC donations.

Last year, End Citizens United, a group that endorsed and backed Perez’s congressional campaign, claimed that while then-Republican congressional candidate Joe Kent had supposedly taken money from corporate PACs, “Perez has continued to abide by her pledge to reject corporate PAC contributions.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee noted, however, that the Perez campaign had received numerous corporate PAC donations.

Sources told Axios that the resolution targeting Perez would reference reporting that her campaign and PAC accepted donations from various corporate sources, including the American Petroleum Institute PAC and American Forest and Paper Association PAC.

A spokesman for Perez did not respond to Axios’ request for comment.

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Officials, including activist judges, refuse to let Republican efforts to fight crime go unpunished, with the most recent challenge coming from Tennessee.

On Monday, a Tennessee judge blocked the deployment of the National Guard to clean up the city of Memphis.

‘I’m grateful for the President’s commitment to keeping Memphians safe by ensuring we have every federal resource at our disposal.’

According to the AP, Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal, a Democrat, decided that Republican Governor Bill Lee does not have the power to deploy the Tennessee National Guard in the absence of rebellion or invasion.

The judge found that the deployment of the National Guard likely violates the state’s military code and that state officials “are suffering or will suffer irreparable harm” if the injunction isn’t granted, according to NBC News.

RELATED: Task force locates 101 missing children, arrests so many suspects the Memphis jail is running out of room: Report

Photo by AUSTIN JOHNSON/AFP via Getty Images

Moskal paused the order for at least five days to give the government time to file an “immediate application for permission to appeal.”

Democrat Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, a plaintiff in the case, said he was “pleased” with the decision.

“This is a positive step toward ensuring the rule of law applies to everyone, including everyday Tennesseans and even the Governor,” Harris said on X.

The National Guard arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 10 as part of the so-called Memphis Safe Task Force.

Upon the task force’s establishment in the middle of September, Governor Lee posted on X, “I’m grateful for the President’s commitment to keeping Memphians safe by ensuring we have every federal resource at our disposal.”

Democrat Memphis Mayor Paul Young, who is not party to the lawsuit, said that he wanted the task force to target violent offenders, a major problem in the city.

The Memphis Safe Task Force has been highly successful by many metrics, including recovering over 100 children from human trafficking networks by November.

Newsmax host Todd Starnes said in response to the judge’s ruling, “Will the Democrats also demand that the missing children recovered by the task force be returned to the human traffickers?”

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Bill Maher criticized those behind the Democratic Socialist movement, stating that the Democratic Party must move to the center if it wants to win elections.

During a Friday episode of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Maher described how Democrats have become divided, with some pushing socialist ideals and others advocating for a more centrist position. He compared the comments of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a self-described Democratic Socialist, to those of Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger (D), who stated that the party should never “use the words ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again.”

‘Because socialism, to put it simply, just doesn’t work and has never worked.’

Spanberger also previously stated that if the party does not shift toward the center, “We will get f**king torn apart.”

“So how do we decide who’s right?” Maher asked. “Well, it turns out we don’t really have to flip a coin; we have the evidence. In 2024, 13 Democrats won in districts Trump also won.”

Maher noted that all of those Democrats were “moderates.”

“All the left-leaning think tanks have done autopsies on 2024, and they all came up with the same message: Move to the center,” he said.

RELATED: Bill Maher destroys the left on the trans issue: ‘You can’t just say s**t’

Zohran Mamdani. Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Maher stated that Generation Z has warmed to socialism because they attribute current affordability challenges to capitalism.

“No one wants to be approaching middle age and still writing their name on food before they put it in the fridge. So they’re quitting, quiet quitting, capitalism and texting socialism that they’re down to f**k,” Maher continued. “The thing is, socialism will f**k you. Because socialism, to put it simply, just doesn’t work and has never worked.”

“If you think New York can somehow reinvent this wheel, you’re in for a rude a-woke-ning,” Maher said.

He contended that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Mamdani are “not Democrats.”

“They’ll be the first to tell you that. They’re Democratic Socialists, and that’s a very different thing, and I don’t think people know that yet,” he added.

RELATED: Mamdani sells socialism — and Republicans peddle the Temu version

Bernie Sanders. Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images For Fane

Maher explained that the U.S. already has “a lot of socialism,” citing Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, food stamps, veteran benefits, Pell grants, COVID-era payments, farm subsidies, disability payments, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, corporate bailouts, and the military-industrial complex.

He slammed the Democratic Socialists of America as “radicals” who want “completely open borders.” He also accused the group of “p***y politics,” stating that they required convention attendees in 2025 to submit a negative COVID test. Maher criticized the DSA’s request for attendees not to clap but to use “jazz hands” instead, as well as the stipulation against wearing “aggressive scents” during the conference to accommodate those sensitive to sensory overload.

“This is who the Democrats are thinking of following? You know, Chuck Schumer ain’t perfect, but at least he doesn’t crumble into a heap when confronted with Chanel No. 5,” Maher stated.

“You may not clap in the traditional way,” he told his audience.

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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is following in President Donald Trump’s footsteps ahead of the House vote to release the Epstein files.

After months of pushing back on Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s Epstein discharge petition, Trump changed course and encouraged House Republicans to vote in favor of the resolution Tuesday.

‘We have nothing to do with Epstein.’

“As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,'” Trump said in a Truth Social Post Sunday.

Rank-and-file Republicans followed suit and began to embrace Massie’s petition publicly, and Johnson, who previously expressed misgivings about the discharge petition, later announced that he will vote for the resolution.

However, there are a few caveats.

RELATED: Effort to release Epstein files finally advances after newly sworn-in Democrat becomes final signatory

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Johnson conceded that he would vote in favor of the resolution but maintained that there were several “dangers” regarding victim privacy, inadequate handling of child sexual abuse materials, and the lack of protections for whistleblowers.

“There’s a handful of Republicans, Judiciary Committee members, and a few others who are really struggling, as I have been, about whether or not they can even vote yes today because of this,” Johnson said during the presser. “Because we don’t have an absolute guarantee that this will be fixed in the Senate.”

Despite these “dangers,” Johnson said he has a “high degree of confidence” that the Senate will implement the necessary changes, allowing him to vote yes on the resolution.

“Having now forced the vote, none of us want to go on record and in any way be accused of not being for maximum transparency,” Johnson said. “So the only intellectually consistent position to have right now … is to allow for everyone to vote their conscience and to go on record to say, ‘Of course we’re for maximum transparency.'”

RELATED: ‘Temporary crumbs’: Out-of-touch Democrat gives stunning rebuke of Trump’s ‘No Tax on Tips’ policy

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Massie and Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California co-led the discharge petition, securing 218 signatures Wednesday to force a vote on the House floor. All 214 Democrats signed on to the petition alongside four Republicans: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Massie.

Although the petition received the support of only four Republicans, the vote is expected to pass with overwhelming GOP support after Trump gave the conference the green light on Sunday.

He also confirmed Monday that he would sign the resolution once it passes Congress.

“We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “All of his friends were Democrats.”

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President Donald Trump directed the Justice Department and the FBI on Friday to “investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him.”

The order has clearly ruffled some feathers among some of the infamous sex offender’s associates.

For instance, Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, claimed on X that the “calls for baseless investigations of me are nothing more than political persecution and slander. I was never a client of Epstein’s and never had any engagement with him other than fundraising for MIT.”

A spokesperson for Clinton told NBC News that the emails “prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing,” adding that the “rest is noise meant to distract from election losses, backfiring shutdowns, and who knows what else.”

JPMorganChase said in response to Trump’s announcement, “We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts. We ended our relationship with him years before his arrest on sex trafficking charges.”

While some of Epstein’s pen pals are proclaiming their supposed innocence, Summers, a Harvard professor who served as former President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser and former President Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary, has instead signaled regret and announced he is effectively going into hiding.

‘She is doomed to be with you.’

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused,” Summers said in a statement on Monday. “I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.”

“While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me,” added Summers.

RELATED: Trump gives Republicans the green light on the Epstein files: ‘I DON’T CARE!’

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Economic Club of New York has reportedly postponed an event featuring Summers and the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank with strong ties to the Democratic Party, and indicated on Monday that Summers has ended his fellowship with them.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) has called on Harvard University to similarly cut ties with Summers.

Warren, another Democrat who has worked at Harvard as a professor, told CNN, “For decades, Larry Summers has demonstrated his attraction to serving the wealthy and well-connected, but his willingness to cozy up to a convicted sex offender demonstrates monumentally bad judgment.”

“If he had so little ability to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein even after all that was publicly known about Epstein’s sex offenses involving underage girls, then Summers cannot be trusted to advise our nation’s politicians, policymakers, and institutions — or teach a generation of students at Harvard or anywhere else,” added Warren.

CNN indicated that Harvard had not responded to its requests for comment.

Among the over 20,000 pages of damning Epstein emails released by the House Oversight Committee last week were numerous messages between the dead sex trafficker and Summers, in many cases about women, politics, and projects linked to Harvard University, where Summers was president from 2001 to 2006.

While remorseful now that his correspondences have been published, Summers evidently had no issue gossiping with Epstein in the years following his 2008 felony conviction for solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution from a person under the age of 18. Summers apparently wrote to Epstein as late as July 5, 2019 — a day before Epstein was arrested on new federal charges of sex trafficking of minors and a month before he was found hanged in his prison cell.

The Harvard Crimson highlighted that in addition to apparently joking with Epstein about women being less intelligent than men, criticizing Harvard’s admission of a black baby killer, and discussing the sex offender’s donations to various initiatives, Summers also turned to Epstein for advice on romantic matters.

In a sequence of texts and emails between November 2018 and the eve of Epstein’s July 2019 arrest, Summers reportedly pressed the convicted sex offender — who described himself as the Harvard professor’s “wing man” — for advice about pursuing a woman he characterized as a mentee.

In one instance, Summers — who has been married to his second wife, Elisa New, since 2005 — reportedly forwarded Epstein an email from the object of his desire wherein she requested feedback for a paper.

Epstein, responding to Summers’ suggestion that he should hold off on replying, wrote, “She’s already begining [sic] to sound needy 🙂 nice.”

The Crimson noted that the woman Summers was attempting to seduce and referencing in a number of his messages with Epstein was Chinese economist Keyu Jin, a professor of finance at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who earned her Ph.D. at Harvard between 2000 and 2009.

Jin’s father happens to be a former high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official with whom Summers was apparently quite close. In a letter dated Dec. 22, 2018, Jin thanked Summers for his support and for his support for her father’s work. Her father, Jin Liquin, served as China’s vice minister of finance and ran part of Beijing’s imperialistic Belt and Road Initiative.

Summers forwarded the letter to Epstein, noting that he “sent a comment in mtg w her father flattering her father and saying other China officials had flattered him as well.”

In the months that followed, both men continued to discuss Summers’ relationship with the woman and joked about the Harvard professor’s probability of having sex with her, even as their relationship was apparently petering out.

“She is doomed to be with you,” Epstein wrote Summers in 2019, though the identity of the woman Epstein was referencing is unclear.

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Since 2021, home ownership has become increasingly out of reach for the average American, as both home prices and interest rates have skyrocketed with no reprieve. Earlier this month, President Trump pitched the idea of 50-year mortgages to combat the housing affordability crisis. He even posted a meme on Truth Social comparing himself to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who’s credited with the 30-year mortgage, and labeled himself the pioneer of the 50-year version.

The proposal, however, immediately drew bipartisan backlash, with critics across the ideological spectrum branding it “debt slavery” or “mortgage suicide.”

Christopher Rufo and Jonathan Keeperman (Lomez), hosts of BlazeTV’s newest show “Rufo and Lomez,” agree that the 50-year mortgage is an economically disastrous idea, not just for the individual homebuyer but for society at large.

“I don’t even want to say [the idea] is bad. It’s just pointless,” says Lomez. “It doesn’t solve any problem that it’s ostensibly trying to solve.”

The problem the Trump administration should be zeroing in on, he says, is the massive generational imbalance in America. Our current policies have wealth flowing in one direction: “from young to old.”

“I think this is partly the problem of boomer politics. They are such an outsized political force, and they are so narrowly focused (as is everyone else) on their self-interest that they’ve lost sight of the larger picture of what they’re trying to leave behind for the generations that come after,” says Lomez.

With boomers turning out in huge numbers to block new housing construction, defend senior property-tax caps, and protect incentives that keep them from ever selling or downsizing, the average first-time home buyer today is 40 years old (up from 33 in 2020), while the average home buyer in general is 59 years old.

“The outcome of these various policies and how we think about who can buy a home and property tax rates and how we architect certain incentives — both the sticks and carrots — have basically crowded young people out of home buying, and this is a massive structural failure on our part,” Lomez argues.

The impact is far more extensive than many realize.

“This has massive downstream effects in terms of fertility rates … and marriage and all the stuff that makes life good. The housing piece of it is a proxy for all of that, but it’s a very important piece of that, and we need to fix this problem,” Lomez explains.

“We’re going to have to figure out some solution that’s better than just going to debt peonage for the rest of your life.”

Rufo agrees, calling the American dream of homeownership “an amazing path for most people” that “should be widely available.”

The idea of a 50-year mortgage may seem like it brings this dream back into the realm of possibility because it “[reduces] the monthly payments on the median house by … a couple hundred bucks a month,” but what it ultimately does is turn a home into “a speculative financial asset.”

“People aren’t going to stay and pay off a 50-year loan,” and by “pushing the payment on the principal back … for the first decade, you’re really not paying down any principal at all. That’s pure money to the bank,” says Rufo.

But this doesn’t just impact the individual, he says. It hurts everyone. “If [the 50-year mortgage] works, according to the theory, it will artificially inflate demand even further, which drives up housing prices.”

“The real problem is that we’ve flooded the country with currency. We’ve flooded the country by printing dollars, especially after COVID, where all of that money that is floating around the system has gone to these assets, like housing,” says Rufo, dismissing Trump’s 50-year mortgage proposal as an idea with “good intentions” but “not a good solution.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

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​Rufo & lomez, Chris rufo, Jonathan keeperman, Blazetv, Blaze media, Home prices, Housing affordability, Housing crisis, Housing crisis worse, Boomers, 50 year mortgage, Donald trump 

Police in Grand Prairie, Texas, responded to the 400 block of Santa Margarita Street around 2 a.m. Sunday after a call about a suspicious person, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Grand Prairie is about 30 minutes west of Dallas.

The homeowner had called 911 and told police that an unknown person forcefully entered his home through the back door, the paper said, citing police.

‘Just because a person is elderly doesn’t mean they are not going to protect what’s theirs, especially in Texas.’

Police said the elderly male homeowner was armed with a hunting rifle and confronted the burglary suspect “who was rummaging through property inside the house,” the Star-Telegram reported.

The homeowner “fearing for his life” shot the burglar, who died at the scene, the paper said, citing police.

Police said the shooting is being investigated as self-defense, and no charges are expected against the homeowner, the Star-Telegram reported.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner will identify the fatally shot person after next of kin have been notified, the paper added.

RELATED: 3 armed thugs wearing ski masks allegedly break into Texas home. But homeowner also has gun — and simply does what Texans do.

Image source: Grand Prairie (Texas) Police

Commenters under the Grand Prairie News’ Facebook post about the shooting have been airing their perspectives, and they seem to be fully backing the homeowner:

“Play stupid games … win stupid prizes,” one commenter wrote. “Shoutout to the homeowner for exercising the 2nd Amendment and protecting his property.””It’s always a shame when someone loses their life like this. It breaks my heart. The victim will have to live with the fact that he took someone’s life,” another user shared. “That said, every gun owner should spend time, in deep thought, planning out every hypothetical situation & their reaction in detail. I have, and I would do the same thing. Don’t break into my home if you value your life. I have prepared myself.””I think this homeowner did what anyone of us would do and protected his property,” another commenter stated. “It’s stupid to break into houses, especially in Texas.””Let’s all give the homeowner a round of applause,” another user suggested.”Best news I’ve heard all day,” another user declared.”Just because a person is elderly doesn’t mean they are not going to protect what’s theirs, especially in Texas,” another commenter opined.

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​Crime thwarted, Burglar, Break-in, Home invasion, Grand prairie, Texas, Police, Fatal shooting, Self-defense, Guns, Gun rights, Elderly homeowner, Hunting rifle, Crime