Good morning, everyone. I’m drinking a lot of coffee this morning as I gear up for the expected release of the Epstein files today. I’m also hosting my wife’s birthday dinner tonight, so multitasking will be critical.
What you should expect is straightforward. Hundreds of thousands of documents and photographs will be released today. Many will include redactions, and for each redaction the Justice Department is required to notify Congress and explain the justification. As I explain in the video, what I am most focused on obtaining are the FBI 302s, interviews with witnesses and survivors.
Given the sheer volume of material, it will take several days to review everything. That’s okay. I’m ready. I’ve done this before as a lawyer, and as a journalist I’m prepared to do it again. Over the coming days, I’ll share periodic updates on what I find.
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Here’s what you missed:
Today is the statutory deadline under the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed by Donald Trump. Attorney General Pam Bondi is required to release more than 300 GB of DOJ and FBI records in searchable form. The disclosure must cover charging decisions, individuals and entities linked to Epstein’s activities, and internal investigative materials, while allowing limited redactions to protect victims, national security, or active investigations. Lawmakers including Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie warn that the absence of accused names or heavy redactions would indicate bad faith, even as the law lacks a clear enforcement mechanism and political backlash and victim frustration continue to build.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice will begin releasing several hundred thousand Epstein-related documents today, but not all at once. Speaking on Fox News, he said the materials—ranging from photos to investigative records—will be released in phases, with additional batches expected over the next few weeks following the law signed by Donald Trump.
In an interview with NBC News, Donald Trump said he is not ruling out a war with Venezuela, confirming that military conflict remains a possibility as his administration escalates pressure through oil tanker seizures and a blockade targeting the government of Nicolás Maduro. Trump declined to outline an end goal or timeline, defended recent strikes and seizures as part of an anti-drug campaign, and acknowledged the political significance of the stance given his prior promises to avoid new wars.
According to CNN, the top lawyer for the Joint Chiefs privately advised that U.S. military officers who believe they have received an unlawful order should consult legal counsel and consider requesting retirement rather than publicly refusing or resigning, guidance that has drawn criticism amid intensified scrutiny of the Trump administration’s deadly counternarcotics boat strikes and broader concerns about military ethics and accountability under Donald Trump.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is planning a major overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule, sources tell CNN, that would recommend fewer shots and align the U.S. more closely with countries like Denmark, a proposal ordered for review by Donald Trump and backed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but criticized by pediatric and public health experts who warn it could leave children more vulnerable to serious diseases.
According to the Guardian, an internal FBI report revealed the bureau has opened criminal and domestic terrorism investigations into anti-ICE activity across at least 23 U.S. regions, citing perceived threats to immigration enforcement following a counterterrorism memo issued by Donald Trump—a move that civil liberties groups warn could chill lawful protest and First Amendment–protected activity.
Authorities said Claudio Neves Valente, the suspect in a mass shooting at Brown University that killed two people and wounded others, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a New Hampshire storage facility. Officials also said he killed an Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor days later, and investigators believe he acted alone, ending a multistate manhunt.
Donald Trump ordered the suspension of the green card lottery program after authorities said it was the pathway that allowed shooting suspect Claudio Neves Valente to enter the U.S., with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the program. Officials said Valente, a Portuguese national, killed two students at Brown University, murdered an Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, and was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The U.S. military said it carried out two additional strikes on boats it described as drug-smuggling vessels in the eastern Pacific, killing five people and bringing the total since early September to 28 strikes and more than 100 deaths, a campaign the administration of Donald Trump has defended as necessary to combat narco-trafficking but that is drawing growing scrutiny from lawmakers.
A Wisconsin jury convicted Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan of a felony for obstructing federal agents by helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while acquitting her of a misdemeanor charge.
Good news:
A lost dog named Choco was reunited with his family just in time for Christmas after being missing for five years, thanks to a microchip discovery more than 2,000 miles away in Detroit and the efforts of rescuers from Helping Paws and Claws, staff at Lincoln Park Animal Shelter, and a volunteer who used donated airline miles to fly him home to California.
Scientists documented a rare case of a wild polar bear adopting a cub that wasn’t her own during the annual migration in Canada’s Western Hudson Bay, marking only the 13th known adoption observed in more than four decades of research by Environment and Climate Change Canada, and highlighting an unusual display of maternal behavior in a species more often associated with infanticide.
Taronga Conservation Society is launching a large-scale rewilding project in Australia’s Nandewar Range, restoring more than 3,000 acres of former farmland with native forest and eventually reintroducing species such as koalas, platypus and the endangered regent honeyeater as part of its effort to rebuild ecosystems and prevent further wildlife extinctions.
Scientists reported a breakthrough cancer treatment in which CAR T-cells were engineered directly inside patients’ bodies for the first time, with early trials in multiple myeloma showing remissions and even apparent cures, a development unveiled at the American Society of Hematology meeting that could make the therapy faster, cheaper, and more widely accessible than lab-based methods.
See you soon.
— Aaron
