The Conservative Cave
Current Events => Breaking News => Topic started by: SVPete on February 04, 2026, 12:43:06 PM
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WSJ Editors: Say, The Epstein Files Release Was a Bad Idea, Huh?
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/02/04/wsj-editors-say-the-epstein-files-release-was-a-bad-idea-huh-n3811531 (https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/02/04/wsj-editors-say-the-epstein-files-release-was-a-bad-idea-huh-n3811531)
Actually, the mandate from Congress to publish the entire catalog of data and materials from the investigations of Jeffrey Epstein amounts to several bad decisions. Democrats who seized on the idea in hope that it would implicate Donald Trump now have to watch Bill and Hillary Clinton decide whether to hide behind the Fifth Amendment, having lost a battle over congressional subpoenas. The material exposed the victims (literally, in some cases) despite Congress' attempts to mandate redactions, because Congress also mandated an impossible release schedule that practically guaranteed massive numbers of errors in the process.
And finally, as the Wall Street Journal's editors concede today, most of this material consists of worthless speculation and baseless accusations, which is why this kind of material remains under seal unless and until prosecutors charge someone in a case. Congress set the American justice system on fire for political expediency, and now everyone is getting burned:
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The second failure: Congress knew damned well that this material should never have been made public. Prosecutors have long held to the principle that investigative evidence should not be made public except where charges are brought, mainly because investigations kick over a lot of rocks and collect a lot of nonsense in the process. Investigators chase down rumors, lies, and delusions along with actual and usable evidence. The US system of justice has rules for the use of evidence that culls out the dross, but it still exists in the records, and the outcome of this effort by Congress was not just predictable but repeatedly predicted:
Meantime, heinous accusations are circulating against prominent people, without any evidence they’re true. Since Epstein died in 2019, prosecutors have had time to chase real leads. The Epstein emails that show elites privately cozying up to a wealthy sex offender are embarrassing, but the government isn’t supposed to be in the business of posting scandalous raw evidence without a verifiable criminal case.
“There are allegations in there that, with 10 or 15 minutes of work, you can realize have no basis in fact,” Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, told CNBC. Protecting accusers, he said, matters for prosecuting future offenders, since it’s “very, very difficult to get victims to come forward in these types of situations.”
Trump-Hating Dems and Trump-Hating RINOs had made "Trump is a Pedo" a core belief, and did not give a @#$% how many innocents would be hurt by this act in their white-whale quest for an illusory Gotcha-Trump. BTW, TWSJ's editors have hands as crap-coated as a Schifftyroo-grade Dem Trump-Hater. TWSJ's editors called for the release of all the files.
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Homan to Minneapolis Leftists: You Think Illegal Roadblocks Will Stop ICE?
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/02/04/homan-to-minneapolis-leftists-you-think-illegal-roadblocks-will-stop-ice-n3811534 (https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/02/04/homan-to-minneapolis-leftists-you-think-illegal-roadblocks-will-stop-ice-n3811534)
The "autonomous zone" strategy worked for the Left in 2020, in Minneapolis and elsewhere. Some of those "zones" remained under insurrectionist control for months. However, those zones interfered with local law enforcement.
This morning, Tom Homan explained the difference. Federal law enforcement won't stop at Antifa roadblocks, and woe betide the fools who think the barricades will derail their legitimate efforts, Homan told the media this morning:
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I talked to the chief of police and he committed to taking swift action on those illegal roadblocks. They're illegal and we shouldn't tolerate them.
Homan should have a "Show Me" attitude wrt any promise from the Chief of MPD.
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Tempers flare between Dem Rep. Maxine Waters and Scott Bessent over inflation: ‘Can you shut up?’
https://nypost.com/2026/02/04/us-news/tempers-flare-between-dem-rep-maxine-waters-and-scott-bessent-over-inflation-can-you-shut-up/ (https://nypost.com/2026/02/04/us-news/tempers-flare-between-dem-rep-maxine-waters-and-scott-bessent-over-inflation-can-you-shut-up/)
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) lashed out Wednesday at Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — telling him at one point to “shut up” after a tense exchange over inflation.
Waters suggested that President Trump’s tariffs were inflationary and that immigration enforcement was tanking housing affordability during a House Financial Services Committee hearing about the state of the US economy.
“Will you be the voice of reason in the administration and urge Trump to stop waging a war on American consumers?” the Los Angeles Democrat pleaded. “Yes or no?”
“You seem confused as to the definition of inflation,” Bessent began before Waters interrupted him to re-ask the question.
The two then began talking over each other, with Bessent noting that the Biden administration “let in between 10 and 20 million immigrants” who “took up the housing stock of working Americans.”
“Can you shut him up?” Waters butted in, asking committee chairman French Hill (R-Ark.) to restore order.
“Can you maintain some level of dignity?” Bessent replied.
Dems just don't seem to "get" that Trump Administration officials come prepared and fight back. Mad Maxine's attempt to force a Yes-or-No answer to a question-begging fake question was pretty maladroit.
ETA: This is what led to the exchange above:
Maxine Waters Has a Complete Meltdown During Hearing While Questioning Scott Bessent
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2026/02/04/maxine-waters-has-a-complete-meltdown-during-hearing-while-questioning-scott-bessent-n4949108 (https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2026/02/04/maxine-waters-has-a-complete-meltdown-during-hearing-while-questioning-scott-bessent-n4949108)
The confrontation began when Waters thought she could trap Bessent on tariffs. She claimed he had written to investors in 2004 that “tariffs are inflationary,” and asked for a simple yes-or-no answer. When Bessent told Waters she was wrong, she tried to pivot to a New York Times article, which prompted Bessent to mock her source selection.
Waters then accused Bessent of contradicting himself, citing his summer Senate testimony where he said that "there is no inflation. Tariffs are not being passed on to consumers." She demanded another yes-or-no answer on whether tariffs are inflationary.
"According to the San Francisco Federal Reserve, with a hundred and fifty years of data, tariffs do not cause inflation," he responded, attempting to provide substantive evidence. Waters interrupted with "yes or no?" but Bessent was firm. "Tariffs do not cause inflation.”
As Waters continued her monologue about housing costs and tariffs on lumber and steel, Bessent interjected with a crucial fact: "Lumber is at a five-year low, Congresswoman." Waters didn’t want to hear that and demanded to reclaim her time to silence him.
"Then let's just have the facts, ma'am," Bessent shot back, refusing to be quieted.
Sounds like Mad Maxine also tried the Dems' tactic of asking a "question" and then talking over the person to prevent an answer they did not want heard. Bessent was less than cooperative.