Who would have guessed?
First, who would have guessed that there would be no honor among these pedophile and sex trafficking supporters?
Second, who would have guessed that the entity behind getting that admission would be… James O’Keefe and the James O’Keefe Media Group.
I recommend stopping the video as soon as O’Keefe (I presume that’s who it is) comes on to add his own blah-blah -blah.
View this post on Instagram
h/t Leto for helping me find video I could embed.
This from a DOJ Deputy Chief. Fuck. I bet everyone who every worked at the DOJ is inconsolable, seeing what it’s become.
WaterGirl
I know this has been talked about in the comments, but let’s help get the information out there.
thruppence
No wonder it’s taking so long. Not that O’Keefe is a reliable source, but these days everything is a battle of narratives.
Rusty
We have reached the point where nothing is done in good faith. I’m not really sure how we can have any form of effective government when one side has decided that every action has to be taken for maximum advantage, with regard for any underlying principles and not caring about future negotiations. Newt Gingrich was the loudest advocate of this form of politics, we have now reached its maximum position. I think we can only withdraw from negotiations (I’m looking at you Schumer) until the Republicans start making sustained good faith gestures. They made this mess, now let them own it.
XeckyGilchrist
Can this be trusted, if Veritas’s lying-ass liar is behind it? He might just be trolling
mwing
I believe the guy in question is now saying that he did not in fact have any sort of knowledge about how DOJ was handling Epstein stuff, and was just pretending he di to impress a date. Who knows! Both these things are quite possible.
Betty
I read somewhere (here?) that O’Keefe targeted him because he thought he was a Democrat. What a world! I hope the survivors do produce their own list and that Massie and MTG read the names in the House.
A point I hadn’t thought of but someone mentioned is that the operation included more than just clients. It included other enablers such as accountants, lawyers, bank officials and possibly intel agents.
scav
On the upside, is it not now even more imperative to speculate about which Republican is masked by each and every single redaction?
All the Redactions!
All the Republicans!
WaterGirl
@mwing: Let’s just pretend for a moment that this guy caught on tape doesn’t really know anything.
This is a DOJ Deputy Chief saying these things – to a person he has just met and has no particular reason to feel that he can trust.
DOJ Deputy Chief feels perfectly comfortable saying this to strangers.
Hair on fire time.
XeckyGilchrist
@WaterGirl: True. Whatever the truth of the content, this is terrible for such a highly-placed person to be babbling about.
Cheryl from Maryland
@WaterGirl: THIS! Sharing details about his job to a date from an on-line site. He obviously doesn’t feel his personality and looks are sufficient.
WaterGirl
I am starting to feel like we are turning into a shithole country, and not because of immigrants.
Old School
@WaterGirl:
I’m a guy who doesn’t know anything.
If somebody asked me about the Epstein files, I’d say the same things. The DOJ will use it to attack the Democrats and try to protect Republicans.
But I don’t have anything to do with the coverup and it isn’t clear to me that this guy on the date has anything to do with it either. Especially if he was targeted because O’Keefe had suspicions he was a Democrat.
mwing
@WaterGirl: True!
WaterGirl
I had to stop listening to political podcasts around Nov 2024. Are any folks like Andrew McCabe still doing podcasts? I would love to hear what they think of a DOJ Deputy Chief not only saying something like this but bragging about it, as though the rule of law means nothing.
WaterGirl
@Old School: But you don’t hold a position at the Department of Justice. This guy does.
narya
Well, since it’s an open thread: it took 5.5 years, but I have apparently caught Covid for the first time. And I still mask on public transportation, so it’s not that . . . bleh. I don’t have a ton of symptoms, but, since I was feeling crappier than two glasses of wine would indicate, I figure, eh, I have the tests, go ahead. SO. ANNOYED.
Gin & Tonic
@WaterGirl: I think that ship has left the barn.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: Yep. How the mighty have fallen.
WaterGirl
@narya: I’m very sorry to hear that.
MattF
Uh, no, I’m not gonna feel positive about any of the Project Veritas creeps. But there do seem to be lots of rakes lying around on top of a field full of land mines laid down on the side of an erupting volcano.
trollhattan
If Joe Manchin is on the list, in/out?
See how tricky this is?
WTFGhost
Honestly, it must be “everyone who ever worked, but is no longer working, at the DOJ…” being inconsolable, because those who are still working there are likely complicit. I could be wrong, of course, but, someday, I hope there’s a blanket pre-emptive disbarring of all attorneys who worked for the Trump administration who were aware of facially unlawful activity, and didn’t report it. Any attorney worth remaining in the bar will have clear timelines saying “and then I said this was unlawful, and was overruled, so, I continued to work, with the primary purpose of continuing to document further unlawful behavior for the historical record, as well as for future prosecutions, in spite of my hating to shitcan my fellow Republicans….” Those folks, I’ll allow, are also inconsolable.
The rest know they’re covering up lawlessness. So many of Trump’s actions are facially unlawful, and often even unconstitutional, anyone not documenting the evidence (as proper officers of the court), while raising objections, is unworthy of practicing law.
narya
@WaterGirl: And I had a beer run coming up on Sunday, at one of the places I really like . . . but I will be responsible and not go, of course.
mrmoshpotato
And these people are such morons that they leave the orange pedophile’s name intact from when he was masquerading as a Democrat!
Miss Bianca
@trollhattan: why would that be tricky?
trollhattan
Quite possibly The Onion.
mrmoshpotato
@narya: Welcome to the club!
Seriously, hope it’s not too bad. And I doubt Wisconsin will run out of beer.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: Well, there’s definitely a ton of shit in DC on one side of the aisle.
Old School
@WaterGirl:
I guess I’m not as certain the DOJ has been completely purged of decent people. We’ll see if he still has his position next week.
mrmoshpotato
@MattF:
Those must be some well-built, quality rakes!
WTFGhost
@Old School: Here’s the thing, though, Republicans probably have a lot more exposure in the Epstein files than Democrats. Could a Democrat have had sex, with an adult-appearing sex-slave, who they assumed was a sex-worker? SURE! I’ll believe that in a flat second. Would they be likely to have sex with an underage woman (girl, really)? Much, much less likely, and fuck ’em if they would, sex worker or no.
Would good men want to have sex with girls? No. And let’s be honest: Republicans are on the side of bad men, right now. Men who want to pollute, dumping toxic waste where it will poison the poor. Men who want big, fat, farting, engines, rather than smaller, faster, quieter, more efficient, greater torque, engines because, OMG ELECTRIC!!!1!! Men who would have sex with girls… if they thought they could get away with it, without some sneering liberal saying they mustn’t.
caphilldcne
I’m not clear what the game is here. O’Keefe does not release this video if it does anything than advance some part of the authoritarian cause.
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan: Ok. But where is that from?
Old School
@mrmoshpotato: The Onion
mrmoshpotato
@Old School: Strange it didn’t come up in search results.
Chief Oshkosh
@Old School: There is some probability that that is what happened.
I. Do. Not. Care.
What I do care about is that this adds to angst of the MAGAts and that it chips away at their confidence that Trump is the superhero that will catch all the bad guys and that it adds to the normies take that Trump is guilty of…something.
Just win, baby.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: It took me awhile to parse that comment, too.
I think he’s suggesting that it would be hard to know whether to categorize Joe Manchin as Dem vs. R – so they could decide whether to redact his name from the list or not.
Scout211
More positive developments in lawsuits against Trump and ICE Barbie:
AP
WaterGirl
@Scout211:
That is great news!
Arbitrary and capricious are their middle names, of course.
hells littlest angel
I can accept Liz Cheney as an ally. I can accept Bill Kristol as an ally. I can even accept Joe Walsh as an ally.
But I have my limits.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
It’s me, isn’t it?
Chief Oshkosh
@caphilldcne: I’m not clear on why O’Keefe would do it, either, but if he tracks to form on this, possibly he’s hoping a prominent, elected Dem will take up the story and run with it. O’Keefe would than release a less-edited form of the video (what is circulating now is heavily edited), making it clear the DOJ twerp was just trying to impress a date, that he truly has no knowledge of such a plan, and that it’s just Demonrat desperation that’s driving ALL of the Epstein stuff at this point.
Seems like very weak tea, but they have been stepping on their dicks a lot over the resurgence of the Epstein stuff, so anything is possible.
Baud
Someone on Reddit said O’Keefe is no longer with PV.
Baud
@hells littlest angel:
Those people can be trusted at some level. PV is deceitful.
piratedan
well, come on gals, all is fair in the ultimate pursuit of nookie!
all I have is that nothing is beyond the pale for these guys, blow up faceless brown people in the water, sure, undisclosed secret ops against other nations, why not? turn our decades long mortal enemy into our best buds for little to no reason (other than he helped the DJT himself) and betray our allies, why not? Who’s to say no?
There are some very dark possible resolutions to some of these findings and I’m sure that before I can even begin to formulate them into words, much less deeds, that I will likely be arrested by the thought police for un-American thoughts.
I guess I have no sympathy for peeps that think that subverting the rules only goes one way… desperate peeps do desperate deeds and these asshats are so busy getting on their cruelty that they not understand what pot they are stirring.
narya
@mrmoshpotato: Thanks . . . I’m in IL, but we’re not likely to run out of beer, either. I just hope I didn’t get anyone else sick. Normally I’m not out and about very much, but it just so happens that I was this week.
WaterGirl
@Baud: the credit was to O’Keefe Media Group.
Old School
@Chief Oshkosh:
My initial reaction was that he was targeting Pam Bondi or Kash Patel, but I have no knowledge of right-wing grudges.
Scout211
TIL that DOJ officials only know what’s “being reported in the media.”
And there is a dating app called “Hinge.”
I now consider myself fully informed.
WTFGhost
@narya: My GhostWife and I caught covid, and, at this point, it really has become a question of “when, not if,” and this is a good time to have caught it. You’ve probably been exposed a couple-three times, so, in addition to vaccination, you have antibody reactions that are already geared up to neutralize the viruses ASAP.
Don’t get me wrong: next year would have been better still! You have my permission to be annoyed :-). But, yes, it’s annoying, yet, it was like walking in the farm’s grazing land and stepping into a cow pie – it was bound to happen, that’s why you wear boots.
@WaterGirl: The rule of law, the Constitution, and the truth, only matter to Democrats these days. Under those circumstances, of course we’re a shithole country! It’s one thing to shine the brightest possible spin on Republicans and “conservatives”, and it’s another to just flat out lie, and pretend everything good is Republican, and everything bad, Democratic. Do that for long enough, and you can’t even begin to work with the truth.
Well, when a party that can’t even guarantee a healthy plurality is the only one on the side of the truth, you can’t have a healthy anything. You’re guaranteed rot and corruption and Trumpism of all forms.
WaterGirl
@WTFGhost: Pretty much!
Old Man Shadow
Yeah. Take it all with a mountain of salt.
But backstabbing and treachery are core tenets of the right’s philosophy.
And O’Keefe is a narcissist and has probably been dying to get some spotlight again to validate his empty, shrunken, pathetic husk of a soul. Probably brings him joy that people who hate him are paying attention to him now.
Ohio Mom
@narya: Can you ask your PCP for Paxlovid?
The first time I took it, I ended up with a rebound case of Covid but the second time, it worked like a dream. After 24 hours, I didn’t feel deathly ill anymore, just run-of-the-mill sick. If I catch Covid for a third time, I’d take it again.
JoyceH
The DOJ can try to redact the Republicans and leave in the Democrats and with this DOJ, I wouldn’t put it past them. They can TRY. What they can’t do is get away with it. Remember that 1000 FBI agents reviewed these files, and while some of them might be Republicans, I suspect a much smaller number will be MAGA Republicans. There will be some Democrats, some trad Republicans, and probably a huge number of apolitical. Redact a huge number of perps and they’re gonna know. And some will be pissed enough about it to blow the whistles. Because remember, I think we can assume that the vast majority of the perps will be Republicans. This is not me being partisan and slandering the other side. Seems like every week or so some man in some position of authority is caught with child porn or try to set up a meet with a minor or some other illegal action indicating an interest in sex with minors. They’re not often big names. Maybe a county commissioner or sheriff’s deputy or pastor. But the really noticeable thing about these cases is that the perp is ALWAYS a Republican. Have there been any instances of Democrats or liberals? I sure haven’t seen any.
Nor are we reliant on the FBI to blow the whistle. Remember that the Epstein victims are going to compile their own list! These young ladies know darn well who raped them.
Layer8Problem
Didn’t O’Keefe and Project Veritas part ways last year or so? Something to do with misappropriation of funds and O’Keefe’s love of musical theater?
narya
@Ohio Mom: I’ll see how I feel tomorrow. So far (knock wood) I mostly have a headache-ish. My real question is how soon after recovery I can get vaxxed, because I’m taking a train trip to Utah in October (sleeper car, but also in the viewing car for the mountains), and I wanted to get the shot before that. I was actually planning to get the updated shot next week or the week after, but maybe a week or two before the trip, now?
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Thanks. I thought it was PV.
mrmoshpotato
@Scout211:
I wonder if Lady Justice is wearing boxing gloves or just bare-knuckling it when she punches the Nazi trash in their fucking fascist faces. 🤔
mrmoshpotato
@narya: I thought you were making a beer runs across the border. Hello, New Glarus! 😁
DLew On Roids
In the federal government, “chief” does not denote a high-ranking official. It’s usual a branch chief, someone who oversees a small office. Schnitt is an acting deputy chief. He’s probably no higher than a GS-14, below both the most senior civil servants (15s), the senior executive career officials, and the political appointees. This isn’t a position that would appear in the Plum Book. What’s more, his office wouldn’t have any direct knowledge of the Maxwell interview or how the files are being worked. He probably actually does have the name amount of information as anyone here.
Of course, he’s also probably right about the redactions in the files, just like any sane-minded person would be, so while this isn’t a scoop beyond “Career Civil Servant Talks Too Much,” it also brings the reality out into the sunshine.
And my best guess as to O’Keefe’s motives is that he’s aligning himself with the MAGA branch that thinks all high-ranking officials are in a pedo cabal. There’s money in them thar rubes.
mrmoshpotato
What did I just watch?
Marmot can be cleaned with a paint roller
mrmoshpotato
@Layer8Problem:
Yes. They kicked him to the curb for reasons I don’t remember.
mrmoshpotato
@narya:
I hope you don’t have to cancel that. Took the Zephyr back home from California on a business trip 10 years ago. It was a great trip.
NobodySpecial
I question how much of the current DOJ actually gives a shit about the rule of law applying equally to everyone. There’s been a reverse enema going on in government for a long time, and it’s accelerated with this administration. At some point, it will ALL be shit, and then the paralysis will become permanent.
WaterGirl
Am I crazy, or does it seem like we haven’t gotten the usual amount of Friday afternoon news dumping?
In all fairness, most days this week have felt like Friday afternoon news dumps.
WereBear
You know, these people are so stupid and delusional I’ll put nothing past them. I’m not going to worry about it, because the victims are making their own releases, and they have the receipts.
It would be great if O-Keefe really thought he was a Democrat and it backfired on him. But history shows that men can be so hormone driven they have sunk careers, marriages, and ships.
And not just once a month. All the time.
Jackie
@JoyceH: My first thought reading that all republicans would be redacted… was behind every blacked out name that isn’t a blacked out victim is a REPUBLICAN. I imagine it wouldn’t take too much sleuthing to figure out the names. Also, too, the brave survivors may feel more compelled than ever to name names. Fingers crossed!
VFX Lurker
Argh. See if you can get Paxlovid via a teledoc prescription, and get some sleep. I didn’t get enough sleep the one time I caught COVID last year, and it lingered an extra week.
Feel better soon.
Jackie
@WaterGirl:
It’s still early on the west side of the country ;-)
Also, most of FFOTUS’s evilest Friday night crimes happen LATE – after the evening news shows are over.
chemiclord
Speaker Johnson just announced that Trump was an INFORMANT in the investigation into Epstein.
A declaration made without evidence and no follow up. How cute.
Baud
@chemiclord:
Trump should give himself a Medal of Freedom.
WereBear
@chemiclord: A tricky place for the squealer, or so crime films tell me.
Sister Golden Bear
@thruppence:
“I know it’s not true, but let’s make the sonafabitch deny it”* — LBJ
*Albeit in this case, it may well be true.
Jackie
@chemiclord: Heh Daily Kos headline: New Jobs Numbers are so Bad Trump Would Rather Discuss Epstein
dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/5/2341949/-New-jobs-numbers-are-so-bad-Trump-would-rather-discuss-Epstei…
Ken B
@chemiclord: So has Johnson been around long enough that he could be on the list?
Seems irresponsible not to speculate.
Sister Golden Bear
@mrmoshpotato: Obligatory: “[They] were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
WaterGirl
@Jackie:
Exactly what Gavin Newsom said on his website earlier today, re: jobs numbers
Jackie
@Ken B:
Epstein and his clients seemed to prefer young girls.
Ken B
@Jackie: I meant as a client.
I think I remember the claim that there underaged male victims as well. Way more girls, but not exclusively.
Another Scott
@chemiclord: Donnie was a double-naught spy???
Best wishes,
Scott.
Jackie
@WaterGirl: LOL!
Jackie
@Ken B: I know what you meant, but I think Johnson might be too young as a client, so was merely speculating as a joke. Johnson might have been a pretty young man back then.
Scout211
@WaterGirl: LOL. I saw that earlier today. I love the “Trump talking Epstein bad.”
His social media team is so clever!
Added:
This is one of the more serious ones and I love this!
After this week with all the fires in my county, I approve.
WereBear
@Ken B: The amount of abuse, regardless of the victim’s age and its type, is rampant in the experiences of MAGA members. That’s how QAnon mythology got focused on it.
From Mormonism to Evangelism their belief systems are crumbling as the victims are exposing the institutions that make this torment so widespread.
It’s part of why they aren’t rational. Their leaders, their pastors, their parents… all the authority figures in their lives betrayed them. They are using every deflection but we are getting to revealing, starkly, the clay feet of the pedophile they put in power
That’s a lot to take in, especially when they are used to avoiding the subject, have few coping skills, and rarely therapy.
If encephalitis was rampant like MAGA, it would be a giant public health crisis. How many nervous breakdowns, or worse, can happen in a pool that big?
Geminid
@chemiclord: Mike Johnson is trying too hard. He’d have done better to say nothing than to make this assertion.
Caphilldcne
@Chief Oshkosh: that sounds about right
The Republic of Stupidity
@XeckyGilchrist:
Whatever the truth of the content, this is terrible for such a highly-placed person to be babbling about.
Yeah, and just another day in the Trump Adminstration…
iKropoclast
I think that was an official aspect of the Q-Anon conspiracy from the very beginning. And they likely do need to work to get the conspiracists back on-side. What better way than the classics?
The Lodger
@Another Scott: Well, he certainly thinks he’s been granted a license to kill.
Kayla Rudbek
@WaterGirl: there was some IP law news dumping (Anthropic settlement and Warner Bros. sued Midjourney)
Paul in KY
@Baud: Errr…no! Not at all….