Good morning and Happy Wednesday! Thanks for being here today.
Today, I am (more) angry (than usual). Let me tell you why.
The President of the United States has been credibly accused of sexual assault by two women. In the first case, a jury of his peers found him civilly liable for sexual abuse. In the second, the “woman” was actually a child, and the FBI found her credible enough that they interviewed her numerous times.
Not only can we not get anyone in power to care that Donald Trump is accused of raping a child, we can’t even get the DOJ to comply with the law and release all the documents they are required to.
The Justice Department has published additional Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor after an NPR investigation found dozens of pages were withheld.
They include 16 new pages that cover three additional FBI interview summaries with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor. Also included are two pages of an intake form documenting the initial call to the FBI from a friend who relayed the claims.
NPR's investigation previously found 53 pages that appeared to be missing from the public database.
Now that these documents are published, there are still 37 pages of records missing from the public database, including notes from the interviews, a law enforcement report and license records.
In a statement, the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee applauded the release of the three interviews initially withheld by the DOJ. Although, they still criticized the department over its handling of the documents.
"But let's be clear: this White House cover-up is ongoing. Millions of pages still remain concealed from the public and our committee." said Sara Guerrero, spokesperson for Oversight Democrats.
Any woman (and many men) who has been the object of sexual misconduct can tell you that we live in a “rape culture,” where we require things of rape victims that we don’t ask of victims of any other crimes. Victims must have a flawless background, they must act in the way the average American expects a rape victim to act, and they must not have attempted to reach a civil settlement with their abuser, lest they be accused of “gold digging.“ Worst of all, they must prove not only that the sex was not consensual, but that they weren’t “asking for it” with the behavior or manner of dress. It’s absurd and devastating at the same time.
At the same time, the average American is wholly unfamiliar with what trauma does to memory and behavior. They don’t realize that it can take a victim years to call a rape what it was. I can tell you from experience that many, many victims spend years trying to convince themselves that they were not raped, even when it’s objectively obvious based on the situation. I was one of those women for decades.
And now, a man who has been accused of sexual assault by two women, and accused of various forms of sexual misconduct by more than 25, has led the US into yet another war — one that is reported to be costing taxpayers $1 billion per day.
So let’s be clear about how we got here. We are here because the inherent racism of “deporting the illegals” was more important to a large number of Americans than the character of the man they voted for. We are here because the names of Trump’s billionaire buddies — Leon Black, Leslie Wexner, Howard Lutnick, and others — show up over and over again on the Epstein list. We are here because seeing a small number of men being held accountable for the way they treat women was too much for too many, leading to the "#MeToo went too far” trope. We are here because this country treats women like second-class citizens whose pain doesn’t matter. We are here because rich men in America are above the law, and too many wannabe rich men are willing to do their bidding.
Worst of all, though a scandal of this magnitude should have taken down Donald Trump years ago, it’s barely even mentioned by the mainstream media, which have all moved on to covering Iran. How is this not the biggest story on the planet? How is this man still in office?
I am furious, and I hope you are, too.
Today, while reading about the sex trafficking trial of the Alexander brothers, who were convicted of running a years-long conspiracy to traffic women and girls for sex, I came across this quote from one of the victims, explaining why she and the other women who have sued the defendants civilly are not “gold diggers.”
From a victim of the Alexander brothers, on the claim that all the women suing them are ‘gold diggers”:
— Julie DiCaro (@juliedicaro.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T17:35:31.307Z
YOU TAKE AWAY THE STICK.
If you live in America, I know you’ve seen women called “gold diggers” for pursuing civil cases against their abusers. In this country, if you can’t get justice via the criminal justice system (which fails victims of sexual violence every single day), you have the option to seek justice in the form of monetary damages. If a perpetrator is found liable, they open up their wallet and fork over some cash. That’s our system.
Hot-shot CEOs and business owners sue people for damages all the time. Per USA Today, Donald Trump and his businesses have been involved in over 4,000 lawsuits. And yet, a woman like E. Jean Carroll, who refuses to slink away with her pain and suffer in silence, is called a “gold digger.” Why isn’t Donald Trump a gold digger? He cares more about money than anyone in the history of the world. Either everyone who sues someone for civil damages is a gold digger, or no one is.
Whenever you watch the news and hear that we have no money for universal healthcare, universal childcare, student loan forgiveness, better schools, environmental cleanup, a DOJ that’s not full of dipshits, and find yourself wondering, “How did we get here?”, remember that Donald Trump would never have been President if this country cared at all about women.
In other news: DOGE bro explains why he “flagged” a documentary about Jewish women used as slave labor during the Holocaust; Things are getting worse in the Strait of Hormuz; A bad day for the death penalty; and The High Note.
Let’s go.
DOGE bro flagged documentary for centering Jewish women’s voices
If you’re not already mad, this will certainly do the trick.
This DOGE bro, who looks like a dude I would absolutely loathe on The Traitors, explained in a deposition why he “flagged” a documentary film about Jewish women who were used as slave labor during the Holocaust for “termination.”
A DOGE staffer testified that a documentary about Jewish women used as slave labor during the Holocaust was targeted for termination because it was "inherently related to DEI."
— Mark Jacob (@markjacob.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T21:07:52.237Z
Worse, he can’t even define DEI without looking at Trump’s executive order.
A DOGE staffer assigned to the National Endowment for the Humanities to flag grants for "DEI" tries to explain what "DEI" is. This deposition is part of a lawsuit by the @acls1919.bsky.social, @historians.org and @modernlanguage.bsky.social.
— 404 Media (@404media.co) 2026-03-10T14:19:04.075Z
The long answer: DEI is anything that centers the voices of people who have historically been marginalized. Short answer: DEI is whatever Donald Trump says it is.
Brainiacs like this are why we’re in such dire straits in this country right now. These were the guys in charge of rooting out the “fraud and waste.”
Things aren’t looking so good in the Strait of Hormuz
Yesterday, I wrote about how important the Strait of Hormuz is to moving not just oil, but what oil becomes, out of the Middle East and to the rest of the world. Yesterday, we learned that Iran is possibly now laying mines in the Strait.
Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy chokepoint that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil, according to two people familiar with US intelligence reporting on the issue.
The mining is not extensive yet, with a few dozen having been laid in recent days, the sources said. But Iran still retains upward of 80% to 90% of its small boats and mine layers, one of the sources said, so its forces could feasibly lay hundreds of mines in the waterway.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which now effectively controls the strait along with Iran’s traditional navy, has the capability to deploy a “gauntlet” of dispersed mine-laying craft, explosive-laden boats and shore-based missile batteries, CNN has reported.
Knowing that, you know the Trump administration is all over this, right?
Wrong. The Trump administration, in its infinite wisdom, withdrew and decommissioned four mine-sweeping ships from the Middle East at the beginning of January. Great planning, team!
Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Christopher Wright falsely tweeted yesterday that the US Navy had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait. That was not true.
Like the Keystone Cops.
It was a bad day for the death penalty
Finally, some good news! Alabama Governor Kay Ivey commuted Charles “Sonny” Burton’s death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As a former public defender, you know I have thoughts about the impossibility of parole, but I’ll take what I can get.
Charles Burton was already running out of the AutoZone store in Talladega, Ala., in the summer of 1991 when one of his five robbery accomplices fired a gunshot and killed a customer.
Prosecutors agreed that Mr. Burton, known as Sonny, had never pulled a trigger. But in Alabama and other states, people who participate in a felony, such as robbery, that ends in a death can still be convicted of murder, and Mr. Burton was sentenced to death. This week, after decades of waiting, he was set to be executed with nitrogen gas.
But in an extremely rare move that shocked Mr. Burton’s supporters, Gov. Kay Ivey commuted his sentence on Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, two days before he was scheduled to die. It is only the second commutation for Ms. Ivey, a Republican who has presided over 25 executions since becoming governor in 2017.
It’s worth noting that while Burton didn’t kill anyone, the guy who did kill someone had his sentence commuted to life in prison in 2014, and he died in prison in 2020.
And, in Tennessee, a bill that sought the death penalty for women who receive abortions didn’t even advance to a vote.
WATCH: “Bill fails for lack of motion” Jody Barrett’s abortion death penalty bill dies, failing to even get a motion to be heard from his own Republican supermajority Not something you see every day. Impressive stuff, Jody! 😬
— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T20:50:56.805Z
The bill was introduced and championed by a dude named Jody Barrett, and he looks like this.
No further explanation needed.
The High Note
Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.
From your lips to God’s ears, Jennifer.
Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down.
