Sunday Wrapup: The Epstein Reckoning Is Here

Democrats hold the line on ICE, CBS keeps surrendering, and Trump edges toward war with Iran

Good morning, Raw America family. I’m writing this over my Sunday coffee, and I have to tell you — this was the week we’ve been waiting for.

To our paying subscribers, thank you. Your support makes everything we do possible, and we don’t take it for granted.

If you haven’t yet subscribed, I need to be direct. The Washington Post answers to Jeff Bezos. The LA Times answers to a MAGA mogul. CBS killed an interview with a Democratic candidate because it’s terrified of Trump’s FCC. These aren’t news organizations anymore. They’re subsidiaries of oligarch interests. Raw America is the alternative — and your subscription is what keeps us in this fight. Join us today.

Now let’s get into it. Because this week was enormous.

The Epstein Reckoning Finally Arrives

On Wednesday, billionaire Les Wexner sat for a six-hour deposition before the House Oversight Committee, claiming he was “duped by a world-class con man.” Democrats weren’t buying it.

Rep. Robert Garcia put it plainly: there would be no Epstein island, no Epstein plane, no money to traffic women and girls without Les Wexner’s support. Rep. Dave Min called his testimony “really just not credible.” The committee noted the FBI and DOJ have never even questioned Wexner, despite his name appearing over a thousand times in the files.

Then on Thursday, British police arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on his 66th birthday — the first senior royal arrested in centuries. The charge: misconduct in public office for sharing confidential government trade reports with Epstein. King Charles said “the law must take its course.”

The UK is investigating. France has opened two investigations. And here in America? Trump’s DOJ has quietly purged from the Epstein files one of the most damning allegations against the president — FBI interview records of a woman who said Trump assaulted her after Epstein introduced them in the 1980s. Those records appear to have been removed in potential violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The dominoes are falling — everywhere except where Trump’s DOJ can block them.

Democrats Hold the Line on ICE

The Department of Homeland Security shut down for the third time in Trump’s second term, and Democrats aren’t blinking.

This week we also learned the body count is worse than we knew. Newsweek confirmed that a federal agent shot and killed Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, in South Padre Island, Texas, last March. DHS never disclosed it. It took a FOIA request to uncover it, nearly a year later.

That’s three American citizens killed by federal immigration agents. Ruben Ray Martinez. Renée Good. Alex Pretti. One death hidden for a year. Zero convictions.

Democrats drew a line: no DHS funding without reforms to ICE. Body cameras. Judicial warrants. Use-of-force standards. No raids at schools, churches, and courthouses. Polling shows 54% of likely midterm voters support holding funding until reforms are adopted.

Federal judges are at their breaking point. A Minnesota judge held a Trump administration attorney in civil contempt this week. The chief judge of Minnesota’s federal district has compiled nearly 100 instances of government noncompliance with court orders since January.

Meanwhile, the DOJ’s protest cases on behalf of ICE keep collapsing. In Minneapolis, felony charges were dismissed after evidence proved “materially inconsistent” with officer accounts. In LA, public defenders have won all six ICE protest cases. In Chicago, 92 arrests produced zero convictions. The DOJ’s loss rate is historically extraordinary.

Trump says he’ll deliver the State of the Union on Tuesday. The question is whether he’ll do it while TSA agents work for free and a third American killing is finally making headlines.

Corporate Media Keeps Surrendering

Stephen Colbert went to war with his own network after CBS lawyers killed a pre-taped interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico out of fear of Trump’s FCC. CBS claimed it merely offered “legal guidance.” Colbert called that “crap.”

The interview went up on YouTube, got millions of views, and Talarico raised $2.5 million in 24 hours.

CBS’s problems run deeper. Anderson Cooper departed after editorial scrutiny from new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss stalled his reporting. Weiss also reportedly refused to fire a wellness contributor named 1,700 times in the Epstein files.

CBS’s continued caving is why Raw America exists. I’d love you to join us today as a paying subscriber.

Meanwhile, a giant banner bearing Trump’s face now hangs on the Department of Justice building. And Alan Dershowitz — former lawyer for both Epstein and Trump — is petitioning the Supreme Court to gut New York Times v. Sullivan, the ruling that protects journalists from being sued into silence. Corporate media is already folding. Imagine if that legal shield disappears too.

Trump edges toward war with Iran

While you were watching the Epstein news, the Pentagon was executing the largest Middle East military buildup since 2003. Two carrier strike groups are converging on the region. Over 50 fighter jets deployed in a single day. Trump has been briefed that the military could strike as early as this weekend.

Even Trump’s own side is breaking ranks. On Fox News, Rachel Campos-Duffy — wife of Trump’s own Transportation Secretary — said on live television that the case for war hasn’t been made, and asked why she should risk the lives of her military-aged sons on another Middle East conflict. “I thought we were done with that,” she said.

What it All Means

The Epstein reckoning shows accountability is possible when people refuse to look away. The DHS shutdown shows Democrats can fight and win the argument. The Colbert saga and the Trump banners on federal buildings show us a country sliding toward something we shouldn’t have to name.

The State of the Union is Tuesday. Raw America will be watching. I don’t answer to Paramount’s lawyers or Trump’s FCC. I answer to you. Consider supporting my work by becoming a paying subscriber.

Thanks for being here with me. Enjoy your Sunday. We’ll be back tonight.

—John Byrne
Founder, Raw America

P.S. — I always like to end with a bit of hope. If you’ve been following our RawAmerica.com Notes page, you’ll know that thousands of students continue protesting ICE. In deep-red Tennessee, hundreds of Ravenwood High School students joined the nationwide walkout against ICE this week. You can see them here. Their courage inspires me.