Monday, February 16, 2026

Marjorie Taylor Greene Revisits Trump Feud and Issues Stark Warning to MAGA Over Epstein Files

Marjorie Taylor Greene Revisits Trump Feud and Issues Stark Warning to MAGA Over Epstein Files

https://time.com/7378977/marjorie-taylor-greene-trump-feud-maga-epstein-files-warning/  

 by

Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene issued a warning to the MAGA base she was once part of, arguing that their response to the release of the Epstein files could cost the Republican Party in the midterms.

“All of you MAGA influencers and the rest mocking the seriousness of women who were trafficked and raped as teenagers and young women look like cult fools,” said Greene Sunday. “Good luck trying to get women to vote for Republicans in the midterms, you insensitive clowns.”

Greene did not specify any individuals she was referring to within the MAGA base, nor did she provide an example of the alleged “mocking.”

The former Georgia Representative—who was a staunch Republican ally of President Donald Trump until a public fallout last year, spurred on by a disagreement over the release of the Epstein files— added that “the Republican Party already has a woman voting problem.”

In the 2024 Presidential election, 46% of women voted Republican, compared to 53% who voted Democrat, up by 2% in Republican votes from the 2020 election, according to the Pew Research Center. While not a direct reflection of voting intention, a YouGov poll conducted between Feb. 6-9 found that 32% of U.S. women approve of the way Trump is handling his job as President, compared to 39% from the same time last year.

Greene’s social media statement followed similar remarks she made during an appearance on the Home of the Brave podcast, released late Friday. In the sit-down, Greene revisited how she clashed with Trump last year when she, along with fellow Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, joined forces with the Democrats in advocating for the Department of Justice to release all files relating to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“If you want to win the midterms, why don't you stop calling all of us names and accusing us of horrible, ridiculous things, and stop being a bully,” said Greene, arguing that many within the Make America Great Again (MAGA) sphere had directed abuse, including death threats, at her for pushing for the publication of the files.

“Look at what the [political] right has become, and it's become this way because the leader of our movement bullies people, and we need to be honest about that,” she added, accusing Trump directly.

Detailing the public fallout following her split from the President—who called her a “traitor” and “disgrace” to the Republican Party—Greene said she told senior Trump Administration figures, including Vice President J.D. Vance, FBI director Kash Patel, and Trump himself, about death threats made towards herself and her son in the wake of the row.

“It was President Trump's replies that were shocking and extremely hurtful. He basically blamed me,” she claimed, adding that it was also “shocking” to be labelled a traitor by Trump.

“And it wasn't a traitor to the country. He meant a traitor to him,” she argued.

Greene spoke of Trump’s pivot to signing a bill in November that ordered the Justice Department to release the documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, despite him having previously dismissed the matter as a “Democrat hoax.

“He [Trump] fought the hardest to stop these files from being released, and the only reason that he signed our bill that we passed in the House was because he had to. It became a massive political problem,” Greene said, arguing that the “biggest political miscalculation in Donald Trump's career was calling this a hoax and fighting the release of it.”

TIME has contacted the White House for comment.

While the fallout over calls to release the Epstein files ended Greene and Trump’s former alliance in a significant way, it wasn’t the only cause of the rift between them.

Greene, who was previously famed for wearing her MAGA hat and campaigned for Trump to return to the White House, notably strayed from the President on a number of high-profile issues last year, publicly opposing—or distancing herself from—some of his core tenets.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, Greene hit out at the Justice Department, questioning why her name was included in a letter posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi that listed high-profile figures mentioned in the Epstein files. (Appearing in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing.)

The individuals mentioned in the letter include people who “are or were a government official or politically exposed person” and are referenced in the files at least once. It ranges from people who shared contact with Epstein and his associates to people mentioned in news articles referenced in the files. The letter also included deceased celebrities such as Elvis Presley and Kurt Cobain, who were simply mentioned in correspondence.

“Why are stories about my refusal to comply with Covid tyranny and other news stories unrelated to Epstein about me listed in the Epstein files? What kind of files are the FBI and DOJ keeping on us?” questioned Greene.

The former Congresswoman's name comes up in various files released by the Justice Department, all of which appear to be as part of news bulletins shared amongst the FBI. One email, an FBI daily news briefing from November 2025, includes a headline on the fallout between Greene and the President. It also includes an article on the release of the Epstein files.

Another daily news briefing on public affairs includes an article headline detailing Greene’s criticism of Covid policy at the Capitol amid the pandemic in November 2020. This briefing also includes a headline on an FBI arrest warrant for Epstein that was issued in 2008.

Greene is among several lawmakers to have criticized Bondi, who says all of the Epstein files have now been released.

During an appearance on ABC News’ This Week on Sunday, Rep. Massie disputed this, arguing that crucial documents are still awaiting release.

“The problem with that is the bill that Ro Khanna (the Democratic Representative of California) and I wrote says that they must release internal memos and notes and emails about their decisions on whether to prosecute or not prosecute, whether to investigate or not investigate,” he said.

 

Epstein sympathized with Kavanaugh during supreme court confirmation, emails show

Epstein sympathized with Kavanaugh during supreme court confirmation, emails show

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/16/jeffrey-epstein-brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court 

 Kavanaugh scowling.

Epstein sympathized with Kavanaugh during supreme court confirmation, emails show

Files show convicted sex abuser messaged with Ken Starr and others about Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford

Jeffrey Epstein sympathized with Brett Kavanaugh during the then-supreme court nominee’s contentious 2018 confirmation and even suggested Republicans should have been harder on Christine Blasey Ford, who had accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

Emails and text messages released by the Department of Justice show Epstein was closely monitoring the confirmation and seemed to believe that Ford’s allegation of sexual assault could derail the process.

Epstein told one person, whose name was redacted, on 22 September 2018 “Ive sat in Kavanaugh chair. Im thinking of November.” The meaning of the November reference is not clear.

Epstein called the pending judiciary hearing “a trap!”, adding “Iye [sic] been through many of these. MANY!! She will cry, make sordid allegations. Say she feels bullied, fearful, traumatized. Every thing bad in her life was s result of the rape attempt. Suffered anxiety! Her relationships with men etc. this is a very special skill set needed.”

Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University who grew up in the Washington DC suburbs, delivered gripping and harrowing Senate testimony on 26 September 2018, in which she alleged under oath how a “visibly drunk” Kavanaugh had pinned her on a bed, groped and ground against her, and tried to take off her clothes during a gathering in the summer of 1982. Both were teenagers.

Ford said she believed Kavanaugh was going to rape her, and covered her mouth to muzzle her screams before both toppled over and she was able to escape the bedroom. Kavanaugh denied Ford’s allegations. The all-male Republican senators judiciary committee had appointed a female prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, to essentially cross-examine Ford, a decision that Epstein called a huge mistake.

He wrote to an unidentified person on 27 September 2018: “horrible choice of prosecutor woman. critical and maybe lethal mistake. . prosecutors don’t cross examine. they prosecute.. power on their side . she should have been a criminal defense attorney.”

He then rattled off a series of questions he seemingly believed Ford should have been asked instead, including whether there was a “history of anxiety” in Ford’s family, whether lights were on in the bedroom, if Ford had seen Kavanaugh again, and probing how Ford got away from the party.

Ford had introduced her testimony by explaining that she could not recall certain details of that day, but that the alleged assault was clear in her memory. In another message, Epstein said Ford should have been asked about how “therapist notes” allegedly differed from her account.

Asked about her view of the messages, Lisa Graves, a Democrat who formerly served as chief counsel for nominations at the Senate judiciary committee, said it was “appalling to see a sexual predator weighing in this way against a woman who courageously testified about a man at the precipice of one of the most powerful posts in the country”.

“It is shocking in part because you have this person who was at the center of efforts to abuse young women and girls and you have an adult woman testifying how she was allegedly treated by Kavanaugh and his friend, at an age when she was still a girl,” Graves said.

There is no evidence in the files that Kavanaugh knew or met Epstein. But Epstein was in frequent contact with Kenneth Starr, the late former US solicitor general and independent counsel who led an investigation into Bill Clinton’s relationship with then-intern Monica Lewinsky and other scandals. Kavanaugh served as an associate to Starr during the investigation into Clinton.

Starr, who died in 2022, was a close personal friend and professional contact of Epstein, and was the key lawyer who helped Epstein clinch a plea agreement in 2008, which is how Epstein avoided federal sex-trafficking charges and served a reduced sentence.

On 23 August 2018, Epstein appeared to ask Starr about a report that was to be released about Kavanaugh and the Starr investigation. Starr responded: “No writing for now. The release should be a non-event for Brett. I get criticized in one portion of the report, but no finding of illegality.”

On 26 August 2018, Epstein wrote to Starr and said he had just read the Kavanaugh “disclosure”, which Epstein said reminded him of “what a genius” Starr was at his job. It is not exactly clear what Epstein was referring to, but about a week earlier, on 20 August 2018, a memo released by the National Archives and Records Administration provided new details about Kavanaugh’s role on Starr’s team during the Clinton investigation. Kavanaugh’s memo said Starr’s team had a responsibility to “make [Clinton’s] pattern of revolting behavior clear”, and included a list of graphic sexual questions he thought Clinton should be asked.

A few weeks later, on 17 September 2018, Kathy Ruemmler, who said this week she would step down as general counsel of Goldman Sachs in June, sent Epstein a note asking whether he saw that “Beth W” was representing Kavanaugh, a reference to Beth Wilkinson.

Earlier emails seem to also indicate that Kavanaugh was Epstein’s favorite to be nominated by Donald Trump. Epstein and Starr traded messages about it on 4 July 2018, days before the news was official, and Epstein called Kavanaugh his “first choice”.

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Two Epstein Victims Made Statements To The FBI Accusing Trump

Two Epstein Victims Made Statements To The FBI Accusing Trump

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/15/2368891/-Two-Epstein-Victims-Made-Statements-To-The-FBI-Accusing-Trump 


87
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86 New
Screenshot2026-02-15at4.05.46PM.png

The FBI interviewed two Epstein victims who implicated Donald Trump. This revelation is found in an FBI slide show summarizing the investigation of Epstein. You can view the slide show HERE.

That image is on page 18 of the slide show. That page comes from an internal FBI email chain that you can view HERE.

I’m not going to repeat what the first witness said, but you can read it yourself from the screenshot above. The second one was less graphic, but is all the same disturbing. The witness describes Epstein introducing her to Trump and saying, “This is a good one, huh?” The witness, who was 14 at the time, says Trump answered, “Yes.”

That witness was regarded by the DOJ as sufficiently credible that she was one of the victims who was selected to testify at the trial that convicted Ghislaine Maxwell.

Other prominent names on the slide/email include Prince Andrew, Harvey Weinstein, Howard Lutnick (Trump’s Commerce Secretary) and Bill Clinton.

We don’t know if these statements were made under oath, but even if they were not they were made under the penalty of law. Lying to the FBI is a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1001.

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America’s 10 Wealthiest People Got $1B Richer Every Day Last Year

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/americas-10-wealthiest-people-got-1b-richer-every-day-last-year/

America’s 10 Wealthiest People Got $1B Richer Every Day Last Year

Lauren Lewis

The 10 wealthiest people in the U.S. collectively became around $1 billion richer every day last year—equivalent to the money 10 average workers would take 726,000 years to earn.

Analysis by Oxfam based on data from Forbes puts sharp attention on inequality in the U.S. and President Donald Trump‘s “one big, beautiful bill” which stands to make the richest richer still.

The House’s Reconciliation Bill, as it is officially known, would put an end to more than $1 trillion in support for the average American with the savings used to offset an extension in Trump’s 2017 tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.

Musk during his interview with Bloomberg.

Food stamps, green energy tax breaks and Medicaid coverage are among the supports for average Americans set to be rolled back by the bill to facilitate the tax breaks, The Washington Post reported.

“We’re seeing a tax code being designed that would bring about the world’s first trillionaire,” Rebecca Riddell, senior policy lead for economic and racial justice at Oxfam America, said. “Even amid the upheaval caused by Trump’s economic mayhem, billionaire wealth has increased astronomically while so many ordinary people struggle to make ends meet.”

Riddell’s analysis suggests that if the estimated $1 billion-a-day wealth gains were taxed like income from work, the top 10 richest Americans would together owe $135 billion in tax—enough to cover the entire federal rental assistance budget for a year nearly three times over.

Oxfam’s analysis, which tracked the wealth increases for the top 10 richest Americans from April 2024 until April 2025, found that Elon Musk was the recipient of over 50 percent of the net financial gain. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO saw his net worth increase by $186 billion with Oxfam saying he is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire.

Walmart heir Rob Walton and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw their net worth increase by $38 billion each, while investor Warren Buffett gained an extra $34.8 billion and Walmart heir Jim Walton gained $36.5 billion.

Mark Zuckerberg in Santa Monica, California.
Mark Zuckerberg in Santa Monica, California. Craig T Fruchtman/Getty Images
Tesla CEO Elon Musk greets U.S. President Donald Trump. Now Musk is frontrunner to build Trump's 'Golden Dome.'

The Trump administration is working to push through the 1,000 page Reconciliation Bill, which also covers immigration issues, despite divisions over its content.

Representatives have raised concerns over the fallout from the proposed legislation after the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said the bill would add about $3.3 trillion to the deficit.

The White House has insisted that the bill would not add to the deficit.

Rep. Thomas Massie described the claim that the bill won’t add to the deficit as “a joke.” “We’re going to add $20 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years, which is three and a half to $5 trillion more than would have been added otherwise,” the Republican told CNN’s Manu Raju on Tuesday.