Trump’s Joe Rogan Epstein Problems Got Worse
PDS Published 07/29/2025
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Trump wants Rupert Murdoch to be deposed in the Wall Street Journal lawsuit ASAP because the man is too much of an old geezer for the matter to wait.
That is essentially what Trump’s lawyers just said in a legal filing asking that Murdoch provide a deposition in Florida within 15 days.
If you need a refresher, Trump is suing Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal over an article it published claiming that Trump signed a birthday card for Epstein that included a drawing of a naked woman and referenced a “secret.”
And Trump is accusing the outlet of libel and seeking $10 billion in damages.[]
Murdoch owns the Wall Street Journal, and in a legal filing yesterday, Trump said he wants the media mogul to answer questions quickly because he:[]
“is 94 years old, has suffered from multiple health issues throughout his life, is believed to have suffered recent significant health scares, and is presumed to live in New York. Taken together, these factors weigh heavily in determining that Murdoch would be unavailable for in-person testimony at trial.”
“President Trump is requesting only to conduct Murdoch’s deposition and have him produce documents associated only with his involvement in, and any discussions related to, the decision to publish the Article.”
And you had outlets like NPR saying that Trump’s demand to get Murdoch deposed so quickly is “unusual,” though as a former executive for Murdoch’s News Corp told the outlet:[]
"It's classic Trump. He is using lawfare, to use his own term, to silence people.”
"The problem is he's going after people who are equally equipped — and in some ways, I would say, better equipped — to navigate this stuff."
Also adding that this urgent deposition feels like "a gratuitous attempt to poke the bear."
NPR also saying that this marks “a personal turn” in the litigation by calling out Murdoch specifically, a man Trump at least used to consider a friend.
According to the AP, Murdoch’s lawyer has already indicated that he would oppose this deposition effort, but of course we will have to see where any of this goes. []
Especially since that is not the only Epstein update we have today.
Because Ghislaine Maxwell is now saying she has some pretty strict conditions if Congress wants her to testify.
Right, she was subpoenaed last week by Republican Rep. James Comer, and it initially seemed she was not going to cooperate.
But in a letter that her lawyers sent to Comer today, it appears she is open to the idea so long as:[]
She can answer questions outside of prison and be granted full immunity, claiming that those are “non-starters [because] Ms. Maxwell cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity…Nor is a prison setting conducive to eliciting truthful and complete testimony.”
She also demands that Congress provide their questions in advance so she can prepare and identify relevant documentation, and that any appearance be scheduled after the resolution of her recent Supreme Court appeal.
Or, you could scratch all of the above as long as she gets clemency, and then she would be “willing—and eager—to testify.”
But if she can’t get any of that, her lawyers say that “Maxwell will have no choice but to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights.”
And if you are wondering if these requests stand a chance, well, a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee told Axios that it will respond to her lawyer soon "but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony."[]
So that’s just another thing we will have to keep an eye out for.
Then also this morning, we had reports that should totally 100% immediately put an end to all conspiracies about that missing minute in the jail video.
Including a new report that should just immediately put an end to all conspiracies about that missing minute in the jail video.
Right, in the hours and hours of footage the DOJ shared from the detention center Epstein was being held in, the minute before midnight was not included, which prompted a ton of questions. []
But today, a government official told CBS News that it’s actually totally chill: there is no missing minute.
Yes, that is the story and phrasing they are apparently going with there.
With the source adding that the FBI, Bureau of Prisons, and DOJ all have a copy of the video where the minute is not cut.
What does that do for a public that is increasingly demanding every single detail about this case be made public, including that missing minute?
Well, I’m not sure.
But this isn’t the first time officials have said there is nothing to see in that minute.
Right, Attorney General Pam Bondi previously attributed it to a sort of glitch that results from the camera systems resetting every night, so every night should have the same missing minute.
But surveillance video and forensic experts told CBS a reset like this is strange and that it does appear the video was edited in some capacity, and not straight raw footage as officials had promised.
So it is just no surprise that also in the headlines today, you have people still just doubling down on their anger with this administration.
With the likes of Joe Rogan accusing Trump of gaslighting the nation on this issue.
“It’s a line in the sand. This one is a line in the sand. Because this is one where there is a lot of stuff about when we thought Trump was going to come in and a lot of things were going to be resolved. We’re going to drain the swamp, figure everything out. And when you have this one hardcore line in the sand that everyone has been talking about forever and they're trying to gaslight you on that…[shakes head.] (35:29-35:52)
You also have Megyn Kelly saying yesterday:
“This is self-inflicted.” (17:45-17:47)
“Now, the president is very annoyed that it won’t go away. It won’t go away because of the way he’s handled it. (19:53-19:58)
“They’ve really created this pickle for themselves and we still haven’t had a presser by Pam Bondi – or even a long-form interview. So it’s hard to have a lot of sympathy.” (20:47-20:56)
And this all reflects general public frustrations.
Right, there has been a decent amount of polling showing that the public feels officials are hiding something about the case.
And just this morning, the Washington Post reported that it texted over 1,000 Americans about Epstein and Trump, showing that over 60% of the country is paying at least “some” attention to the case, and the majority does not approve of Trump’s handling of it.
Though, it is worth noting that even though the big focus has been on MAGA Republicans lashing out at Trump here, the Post found that Democrats are paying the most attention, and are most likely to disapprove of how things are going here.
But you also have outlets like CNN noting that because people like Joe Rogan continue to bring the case up week after week, that keeps the issue alive and thriving in the minds of people who are independent or lean right.
With the outlet noting that:
“Epstein’s name was mentioned more than 40 times on the most recent episode of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience.’”
“the outrage is coming from within Trump’s normally steadfast circle of conspiracy-minded media boosters.”
“And as arguably one of the most, if not the most influential of those figures, Rogan’s criticism suggests Trump’s headache will only grow from here.”
So once again, we are just left waiting to see what that Trump administration makes of all this or, if Trump finally dug himself into a hole he can’t get out of.
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[Clip, 00:18 - 00:29] Caption: “About an hour ago I was walking home, going to Grand Central, and then I saw a rush of people come from behind me. I had my headphones on so I couldn’t hear, and then somebody said, ‘gunshots, gunshots.’”
Yesterday evening in midtown Manhattan, a rapid burst of gunfire rang out from the first floor of a highrise office building. [Image]
[Clip, 00:40 - 00:41] Caption: “They said somebody’s inside with a gun.”
[Clip, 00:25 - 00:29, 00:33 - 00:37] Caption: “It felt like you were in a warzone, almost. I saw a worker run out. … By the time he got to us he said, ‘help, help, I’ve been shot.”
[Clip, 01:30 - 01:35] Caption: “But there was a guy laying on the floor. They tried to give him CPR. He didn’t get up. They put him in the ambulance.”
What ensued was utter panic — people went running, some fled out the back exit, others hid in bathrooms and closets.
Those attending a networking event in the first-floor auditorium hid wherever they could, the control room, the basement.
And on the floor above, dozens of people watching a presentation flooded into a conference room and barricaded the doors while shushing each other, calling police and scouring social media for info.
[Clip, 00:37 - 00:46; Clip, 02:08 - 02:25, 02:43 - 02:46] Caption: “I think it was very very apparent through all this that a lot of us were young, a lot of us went through training in elementary school of what to do in an active shooter situation. … We were hiding behind the large monitor. A lot of people were on the ground. We flipped a lot of the tables up. A lot of people were along the windows. Some people, if they were a bit later getting there, they really just had to pull curtains over themselves. … I texted people good in my life that I love them.”
So what happened? Well as we’d later find out, a man had parked his car outside and walked into the building carrying a high-powered M4 assault rifle. [Screenshot, 00:39]
With police saying he entered the lobby, turned right, and immediately opened fire. [Same asset]
First shooting a police officer, then a woman who ran for cover behind a pillar, then another man who escaped with injuries. [Image, image, image, image, image, image, image]
And according to police, after spraying the lobby with more gunfire, the gunman entered the elevator bank, shooting a security guard who had ducked under the desk. [Same assets]
With him then reportedly calling the elevator, and when it arrived and the doors opened, a presumably startled woman was inside. [Same assets]
But inexplicably, police say the gunman let her exit and pass by him unharmed. [Same assets]
Then, he went up to the 33rd floor, where the offices of Rudin Management are located, and walks through it, reportedly shooting another person. [Same assets]
With him finally walking down a hallway, where he apparently took his own life.
So in total, excluding himself, four people were reportedly killed and one critically injured but stable as of this morning.
With the dead including Didarul Islam [Pronounce 08:50], an NYPD officer, husband and father of two with a third child on the way. [Body and Image]
[Clip, 09:08 - 09:23] Caption: “He put himself in harm’s way. He made the ultimate sacrifice, shot in cold blood, wearing a uniform that stood for the promise that he made to this city. He died as he lived, a hero.”
With Donald Trump commenting on the news, calling it a tragedy, giving his condolences to the victims’ families, and adding:
“I trust our Law Enforcement Agencies to get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence.” [Post]
And as for that question of motive, we’ve learned a lot that seems to point in one direction, though much is still unclear.
Right, so first off, the gunman appears to be 27-year-old Shane Tamura [Pronounce 06:26], a man from Las Vegas. [Image]
Where, according to sources who spoke to ABC, he had two Mental Health Crisis Holds, one in 2022 and another in 2024. [Quote, find “2022”]
Meaning he may have been detained in the past after someone deemed him a danger to himself or others. [Same quote]
Meanwhile, he reportedly had a concealed carry license from 2022. [Quote, find “concealed carry”]
Now as for how he got from Vegas to NYC, it appears that he drove himself.
With police saying his BMW travelled through Nevada and Colorado on Saturday, Nebraska and Iowa on Sunday, then New Jersey and finally New York on Monday, arriving there about two hours before the shooting. [Quote, find “two hours”]
Which raises the question: why did he travel so far to shoot up that specific building?
And well, if you look at the businesses there, the answer seems to emerge.
You’ve got the accounting firm KPMG, the real estate investment firm Blackstone, and perhaps most notably the NFL.
Which is significant because (1) Tamura played football during high school in LA in 2015, according to former classmates. [Quote, find “charter”]
And (2) authorities reportedly found a three-page note in his wallet that references chronic traumatic encephalopathy [Pronounce 00:23], the brain condition caused by repeated head trauma typically associated with people like veterans and football players.
So reportedly, in his note Tamura wrote, “CTE study my brain please. I’m sorry.” [Quote]
As well as a line claiming the NFL “concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits,” adding, “They failed us.” [Quote]
And then warning against going against the NFL, claiming it will “squash you.” [Quote]
Now to be clear, police say they’ve found no evidence so far that he suffered a traumatic brain injury or had CTE.
Nor did he appear to have any connection to the NFL.
But regardless, New York Mayor Eric Adams said he believes the man was targeting the NFL, and went to the 33rd floor because he took the wrong elevator.
With Adams also taking the opportunity to highlight the scourge of gun violence, as did Governor Kathy Hochul Ho-kull], who said:
“The killer used an AR-15-style assault rifle. The same weapon of war used in mass shootings across America. New York has some of the strongest gun laws in the nation. We banned assault weapons. We strengthened our Red Flag Law. We closed dangerous loopholes. But our laws only go so far when an AR-15 can be obtained in a state with weak gun laws and brought into New York to commit mass murder.” [Quote]
“The American people are tired of thoughts and prayers. Congress must summon the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and finally pass a national assault weapons ban before more innocent lives are stolen.” [Quote same link] [Quote same link]
But right now, that’s pretty much all we know.
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Marjorie Taylor Greene just became the first Republican lawmaker in Congress to call the crisis in Gaza a “genocide.”
Right, and specifically, her comment was made in reaction to a social media post last week from her colleague, Republican Rep. Randy Fine.
And there, Fine responded to an article about how 15 people — including four children — had died of starvation in Gaza over the previous 24 hours, with him writing:
“Release the hostages. Until then, starve away. (This is all a lie anyway. It amazes me that the media continues to regurgitate Muslim terror propaganda.)” []
And yesterday, Greene made her own post responding an article alleging that the power pro-Israel lobby AIPAC (said “A Pack”) had removed Fine from their list of endorsed candidates.[]
With Greene noting that Fine had barely won his seat in a “deep red” Florida district, writing:
“I can only imagine how Florida’s 6th district feels now that their Representative, that they were told to vote for, openly calls for starving innocent people and children.”
And then adding: “It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza.”
And continuing: “But a Jewish U.S. Representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful. His awful statement will actually cause more antisemitism.”
Okay, so her comments there are notable for a number of different reasons.
Right, not only is she reportedly the first Republican in Congress to call what’s happening in Gaza a genocide, she’s one of the few lawmakers to do so at all.
Only a handful of other progressives have used that label — and most of them are her sworn enemies in the squad.
Though, of course, that claim has been backed up by numerous leading human rights organizations — including, most recently, a top Israeli rights group.[]
So her comments mark a major split not only from her own party, but from the general political discourse among congressmembers.
But it’s also notable because it marks a dramatic shift for Greene.
Right, not only did Greene follow the party line on Gaza, she also went out of her way to try to punish those who spoke out against Israel.
Back in November of 2023, she led a failed attempt in Congress to formally reprimand Rep. Rashida Tlaib — the only Palestinian-American member — for comments she made at a pro-Palestine protest outside of Congress.
Comments that, very notably, included describing Israel’s actions as “genocide.”
With Greene explicitly accusing Tlaib of “anti-semitic activity” and “sympathizing with terrorist organizations.”
But, in recent weeks, Greene has started to embrace the exact same rhetoric she tried to punish Tlaib for.
Making numerous public statements taking aim at Israel and proposing an amendment that could cut $500 million in American funds for Israeli missile defense.
Though that measure failed by an enormous margin, with just six members voting in favor.
Right, and with all this, we’ve seen a pretty mixed response to her shift online.
With some praising her for speaking up — including plenty of people who don’t support her, like one user who wrote:[]
“exceedingly rare W from MTG, what the fuck”[]
We also saw a lot of people taking aim at Democrats, posting things like:
“When Marjorie Taylor Greene is capable of saying there is a genocide in Gaza, there is no excuse left for the hundreds of Democrats who continue to lie and hide behind their corporate donors.”[]
But, on the other side, there were also a lot of folks who noted that Greene has a history of being openly antisemitic.[][]
And I’m not talking about the perspective from some that all criticisms of Israel are antisemitic — I’m talking about Jewish space lasers and racist conspiracies.
Which is why you had some saying it's hypocritical for her to accuse Fine, a Jewish lawmaker, of increasing antisemitism when she has actively spread antisemitic hate.[]
Some more directly claiming that her stance is rooted in antisemitism, arguing:
“Well she’s an antisemite and that also means she incidentally opposes Zionism too. Nothing to do with the genocide mind you.”[]
But, at the same time, others also argued that this represents a change in the general discourse around Gaza, with one user posting that Greene’s shift:
“shows just how undeniable the horrors in Gaza have become.”[]
Adding: “Even those who once blindly supported Israel are starting to break ranks. The truth is loud, and it’s forcing even the most unlikely voices to speak.”
But, on that note, I’d love to know what you make of this and where you land.
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Big news for my American viewers: you might be getting a $600 “tariff rebate” soon.
Right, yesterday, Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a bill that would give $600 each to American adults and their dependent children.
And the idea here is that the funds would come from the revenues the government is reaping from Trump’s tariffs.
With Hawley saying in a press release announcing the move:
“The United States now has record monthly tariff revenue, which nearly reached $30 billion in June. Several projections suggest the United States could see over $150 billion in tariff revenue in 2025 alone.”
Right, and this move comes after Trump said on Friday that he would support sending some kind of tariff rebate to Americans:
“We have so much money coming in, we're thinking about a little rebate but the big thing we want to do is pay down debt. We're thinking about a rebate.” 00:16 - 00:24
And specifically, Hawley’s proposal would work similarly to the stimulus checks the Trump administration sent out during COVID — an effort that Hawley actually helped champion back in 2020.
Under the legislation, a refundable tax credit would be set up using tariff revenue, which would then send at least $600 to each eligible adult and dependent child this year.
Though the bill would also “Allow for a larger credit per person if tariff revenue exceeds current projections for 2025.”
Now, as far as who would be eligible, Hawley’s bill doesn’t explicitly say.
But it does note that it would exclude “any nonresident alien individual,” dependents who can be claimed on another taxpayer’s taxes, and estates or trusts.
Additionally, the measure also says that the rebate would be reduced by 5% for individuals who make over $75,000 a year or households with joint income above $150,000.
But, with this, the big questions right now are 1) will this actually be able to pass? And 2) will this actually make any kind of difference for Americans?
Right, even though Trump seems to have tentatively thrown his support behind the idea, it’s unclear if enough Republicans will get on board.
Especially the fiscal hawks, who likely will want the money to go towards reducing the federal deficit.
But while sending free money to Americans might make the GOP look good, many experts say these checks won’t make a big impact — if anything, they would just cancel out some of the money Trump’s tariffs will cost every day Americans.
Right, economists have widely said that Trump’s tariff policies will end up hurting American consumers.
And just yesterday, The Budget Lab at Yale released an analysis that they will cost American households an average of $2,400 just this year alone.
A figure that apparently wasn’t lost on Hawley, who explicitly noted in his press release that his $600 rebate would amount to “$2,400 for a family of four.”
But, beyond that, many experts also say that these rebates could actually INCREASE inflation, with one explaining:
“People will go out and spend some of that money, and that would further put upward pressure on prices and probably magnify inflationary effects.”
And there is historical evidence to back that up — according to one estimate, the pandemic-era stimulus checks contributed to an increase in inflation of around 2.6%.
Which is also why we’ve seen many people reacting to this negatively online, arguing that this idea basically shows that Republicans know Trump’s tariffs will hurt Americans, and writing things like:
But yeah, on that note, I’d love to know what you make of this.
