Assistant AG whose arrest went viral, told cops they’d ‘regret’ arresting her faces consequences
The Rhode Island assistant attorney general, whose arrest went viral earlier this week after she seemingly tried to use her position to evade arrest, telling officers they’d “regret” putting her behind bars, will be placed on unpaid leave.
Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan, who was arrested for trespassing, was placed on paid leave directly after the incident while the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office reviewed the matter. But, starting Monday, Flanagan will go on unpaid leave, the office told Fox News Digital.
It is unclear how long Flanagan will remain on unpaid leave until a final determination is made on her employment. The Attorney General’s office did not respond to additional questions about its ongoing review of the matter, or when it might make a final decision.
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State payroll records, according to the Boston Globe, show that Flanagan was raking in approximately $113,000 a year in her position as a Special Assistant Attorney General.
“I’m an AG! I’m an AG!” Flanagan could be heard saying to police as they tried to detain her for failing to comply with their demands. “You’re going to regret this. You’re going to regret it. I’m an A-” Flanagan said as she was escorted to the back of a police car and the door was shut.
“Good for you, I don’t give a s—,” one of the arresting officers can be heard saying back at one point.
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In a subsequent radio interview following Flanagan’s arrest, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha called the incident “inexcusable behavior” that will likely result in “strong, strong sanction[s].” However, he did note that this isn’t the first time he’s dealt with a case like this involving his staff.
“I’ve got 110 lawyers, she embarrassed all of them. I haven’t had many issues like this while I’ve been attorney general. I’ve had a few, and I let one guy go for driving drunk – had to bring him back – well I didn’t have to, but did bring him back after I fired him about a year later because, again, I needed somebody to go into a courtroom and try ugly, hard murder cases,” Neronha told WPRO Radio.
“It’s just really hard to find and keep capable lawyers and so I just have to think really carefully about this one. But no question there will be a strong, strong sanction here,” the attorney general continued.
Neronha added that he believed the incident was alcohol-related, and noted that doesn’t necessarily excuse the behavior. He also said Flanagan had an “unblemished” record working under him, is thought highly of by the state bar association and is taking steps to make amends with the New Port Police Department, including issuing an apology.
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The attorney general was asked about certain details of the incident, including whether Flanagan was right in telling the officer it was the law that he must turn off his body camera upon request by a citizen.
“I’m not sure what she was thinking. Clearly, she was not thinking straight,” said Neronha, who added that Flanagan was incorrect in her assertion that police officers must shut off their bodycam upon request.
“She’s humiliated herself,” Neronha added. “Regardless of what happens vis a vis her employment with us, she’s going to have a long time coming back from this. It’s just really unfortunate.”
Billionaire backs Mamdani with massive check despite his rhetoric against ultra wealthy
The heiress to the fortune of a billionaire hedge fund manager has made a substantial donation to a super PAC aligned with socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a candidate who has said he does not believe billionaires should exist.
In what amounts to the largest contribution received this cycle, the Mamdani-aligned New Yorkers for Lower Costs PAC recently received $250,000 from philanthropist Elizabeth Simons, New York Post reported.
Simons is the daughter of Jamie Simons, the late billionaire hedge fund manager who founded the extremely successful hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, built up a personal fortune worth $31.4 billion over the course of his lifetime and used billions of that money for charity.
“I don’t think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country,” Mamdani told NBC News in June.
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News of Mamdani’s billionaire support prompted criticism on social media, including from Mamdani’s opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“Congrats to you, @ZohranKMamdani for completing the holy trinity of hypocrisy: Eat the rich → Cash their PAC checks,” Cuomo posted on X. “Freeze the rent → Rich guy in affordable housing you don’t need. Defund the police → Armed guards worldwide… from the campaign trail to Uganda. You are what you pretend to fight.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign and New Yorkers for Lower Costs PAC, which operates independently of the campaign, asking if the funds would be returned or denounced but did not receive a response from either party.
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Railing against billionaires has been a common occurrence over the course of Mamdani’s campaign as he has attempted to position himself as a candidate who champions affordability and cost of living for New York City’s working class.
“We’re reaching New Yorkers who’ve been ignored by establishment politicians and crushed by the billionaire class,” Mamdani posted on X in March. “Our grassroots momentum will carry us over the finish line in June.”
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Mamdani has also criticized Cuomo for taking money from billionaires, posting on X in June, “We live in the most expensive city in the United States. Cuomo’s billionaire donors want it that way. But we have an agenda to make life affordable.”
Former longtime Cracker Barrel employee warns new logo is a big mistake
Cracker Barrel has found itself at odds with its fans after removing “Uncle Herschel” from its logo. The company unveiled its revamped text-only design, sparking backlash and sinking its stock price.
The original 1969 logo was also text-only, but the 1977 addition of the now-iconic imagery became a staple of its branding.
While fans worry that the rebranding is a symbol of larger cultural changes in the company, Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino downplayed the criticism in an interview with “Good Morning America.”
Masino said in the interview that the feedback was “overwhelmingly positive.” Masino also shared that managers of several locations were asking for a remodel, adding that “the feedback and the buzz is so good, not only from our customers, but from our team members.”
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Erik Russell knows Cracker Barrel better than most. As a former employee of nearly 10 years, the restaurant has personal meaning for him.
“I worked there, basically, from the time I went out of high school through when I finished college. So yeah, I mean, [it’s been a] huge, huge part of my life,” Russell told FOX Business.
After the logo change, Russell — who now works as a brand designer — spoke against it in a now-viral post on X in which he said the company was committing “brand suicide.”
“I think a lot of people just see Cracker Barrel as just another company… but to me, the company was and is much more than that, you know, based on the values that the company represents to me, the people that I met there, the people I still know there and the experiences that I had there,” Russell told FOX Business.
Russell explained the changes he saw internally and how the company moved away from representing “a more traditional time in America.”
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The former longtime Cracker Barrel employee said that while attending Bob Jones University, he found the restaurant to be a great fit, as the school had a rule against students working at establishments that serve alcohol. Cracker Barrel did not have alcohol on its menu until mid-2020. Russell said that this change “really spelled the beginning of the end for that era of Cracker Barrel culture.”
The change in its alcohol policy wasn’t the first sign the company was going in a different direction. Russell recalled how Cracker Barrel changed its dress code for employees, going from requiring certain haircuts and trimmed facial hair to being more relaxed. He admitted that the rules alone were not what made the company’s culture, but rather it was a combination of factors.
“Rules don’t necessarily have any magic to them, but I think when you add all of those things together, along with the attitudes inside the store, the way the manager enforced the code of conduct, I think you get a picture of a place that understood family values, understood traditional values, attracted a certain type of clientele, attracted a certain kind of employee,” Russell said.
When it comes to the symbolism of Cracker Barrel’s new logo, Russell said it “requires a lot of reading between the lines,” but that those who “know what to look for” will see it. As a graphic and brand designer, he said the logo is much more than an emblem.
“There is no such thing as ‘just a logo,’” Russell said. “When you first draw a logo, it doesn’t matter how good that logo is technically, right? It doesn’t mean anything. What makes a logo meaningful and what makes branding meaningful is the connection that that represents to your customers.”
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Russell compared the Cracker Barrel rebranding to the introduction of Gap’s changed logo design, saying that customers develop “a certain emotional attachment” to such iconic symbols.
Despite his disappointment with the changes the company has made, Russell remains a Cracker Barrel fan and even ate there the same day he spoke with FOX Business. He said that he usually orders off-menu “because if you know how to substitute at Cracker Barrel, then you can get pretty much whatever you want.” He gave FOX Business his advice on what to order.
“If you go on Sundays and get the homestyle chicken and substitute the biscuits for toast, you can make a delicious fried chicken sandwich with tomatoes and lettuce and onions and all the salad trimmings, which are free and then you can get your three sides.”
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In response to a FOX Business request for comment, Cracker Barrel said its values had not changed.
“Our values haven’t changed, and the heart and soul of Cracker Barrel haven’t changed. And Uncle Herschel remains front and center in our restaurants and on our menu. He is the face of ‘The Herschel Way,’ the foundation of how our 70,000-plus employees provide the country hospitality for which we are known,” Cracker Barrel said in a statement.
“Cracker Barrel has been a destination for comfort and community for more than half a century, and this fifth evolution of the brand’s logo, which works across digital platforms as well as billboards and roadside signs, is a call-back to the original and rooted even more in the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all back in 1969.”
After the new logo was released, Cracker Barrel experienced its worst losing streak in months, as shares of Cracker Barrel (CBRL) tumbled more than 12% on Thursday, the steepest drop since April, before ending the session down more than 7%. The drop erased over $90 million in market value.
Prince Philip had ‘choice words’ after Prince Harry’s wedding that will make you gasp
Prince Philip didn’t mince his words on his grandson’s big day.
Grant Harrold, King Charles’s former butler, claimed that the Duke of Edinburgh didn’t hold back after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said “I do” in 2018. In his upcoming memoir, “The Royal Butler,” the etiquette expert claimed he overheard “a few choice words” from Queen Elizabeth II’s husband.
“Once all the formalities were over, we watched as the happy couple, and then the other members of the royal family, filed out of the chapel,” Harrold wrote, according to an excerpt published by The Telegraph.
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“When Prince Philip came out, he turned to the Queen and said, ‘Thank f— that’s over.’”
Archewell, which handles the offices for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, told Fox News Digital they had no comment.
Meghan, an American actress who starred in “Suits,” married the British prince in a ceremony that was held at St George’s Chapel. Both the queen, who died in 2022, and Philip, who passed away in 2021, were in attendance.
Several royal experts told Fox News Digital they weren’t surprised by the alleged remarks made by Philip.
“He was 96 years old at their wedding,” said British royals expert Hilary Fordwich. “He had just recovered from surgery, so he was likely in pain and tired. Anyone would not have been at their best, alone at his ripe age.”
“Prince Philip was infamous for his colorful language and, on occasion, inappropriate, offensive comments,” said British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard.
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“His gaffes became the norm, many putting it down to his razor-sharp tongue, lack of inhibition and PC due to his older generation,” she shared. “On this particular occasion, Prince Philip was feeling groggy, tired and fed up. He’d had enough for the day. He didn’t have enough tact left in his tank.”
“It wasn’t a personal swipe at the Sussexes,” Chard added.
Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner said he was all too familiar with Philip’s blistering words and no-nonsense approach to life.
“There are many expletives that could describe Philip, who was known for his outspoken views on anyone who would care to listen,” said Turner. “I used to be a royal photographer. Whenever I was given that task, I would check my life insurance, as he could be dangerous at times, especially when he was on his horse and carriage.”
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“More than once, he would… full charge towards me,” he recalled. “Once I had to dive into a thorn bush to get out of his way, and he muttered a similar oath to me, even though I was doing his carriage championships a massive favor. In reality, he was my least popular royal to work with. He led his own life… So, swearing after the wedding is just par for a man who thought he could get away with his behavior.”
Philip spent more than seven decades supporting his wife, England’s longest-reigning monarch. She affectionately referred to him as her rock in public.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020, citing the unbearable intrusions of the British press and a lack of support from the palace. They moved to California that year. The couple went on to air their grievances in interviews, documentaries, as well as Harry’s 2023 memoir “Spare.”
In sit-downs leading up to the book’s publication, Harry accused members of the royal family of getting “into bed with the devil” to gain favorable tabloid coverage. He singled out Queen Camilla’s efforts to rehabilitate her image after her longtime affair with his father, the king. In the book, Harry also claimed that he and his brother begged their father not to marry Camilla.
Harrold admitted to The Telegraph that he was surprised by Harry’s words.
“[The family]… got on so well,” he told the outlet. “And that’s why I don’t understand what Harry’s said, I really don’t understand. Because I saw them. I saw them having dinners together, I saw them having drinks together, I saw them going to parties together… The king used to do things to make [his sons] laugh and giggle.”
Harrold also noted that both Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, made sure to include Harry in their “little gang.”
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“They involved him,” said Harrold. “William would be away, and Kate and Harry would be out doing stuff together. They’d go shopping together, they’d go to pubs together… I think when people say, ‘Oh, he was left out,’ he really wasn’t. But also, he was with [his then-girlfriend] Chelsy [Davy]. Chelsy was always around. And Chelsy and Kate got on really well.”
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The brothers were “so close,” Harrold insisted about William and Harry.
“The banter was great,” he told the outlet. “They used to go around being silly with each other and winding each other up, jumping out at their dad from corners and making him laugh. It was just like a [normal] family.”
Vikings male cheerleader controversy grows after restroom video with women goes viral
The Minnesota Vikings’ new male cheerleaders joined two of their female colleagues in a social media video that was filmed in a bathroom.
The video, which was originally uploaded to TikTok by Vikings female cheerleader Brianna Putney, showed her and teammate Jenna Kathlyn doing a dance with the two men, Blaze Shiek and Louie Conn, with Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” playing in the background.
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The depiction of both the male and female cheerleaders in the same bathroom prompted backlash on social media.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Vikings for a response.
Shiek and Conn have been the topic of fierce social media debate after speaking out against critics, as the team has even put out a statement in defense of the two men on the cheer squad.
The Vikings are not the first team to employ male cheerleaders. The Los Angeles Rams were the first organization to have male cheerleaders in 2018. The Baltimore Ravens also featured several men on their cheerleading squad.
Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers had the first transgender cheerleader on its squad until this year.
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However, the Vikings’ situation has become a source of national debate amid Sheik and Conn’s recent social media posts.
Former Vikings player Jack Brewer and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., spoke out against the organization for having male cheerleaders.
Brewer, a former Vikings captain, told Fox News Digital he believes the inclusion of men on the cheerleading squad is an attempt to “manipulate children.”
“This is purely an attempt to manipulate young children, to overtake the minds of young children with this spiritual evilness,” Brewer said. “The influence on kids is manipulating the mind of the children. They are teaching young boys that it’s okay to have pom-poms and cheer and act like women.”
Tuberville told OutKick’s “Hot Mic” on Tuesday that he believes fans could stop buying tickets over the issue.
“People will actually quit buying tickets because this is the narrative they’re trying to push. This is not just about a couple of people being men cheerleaders,” Tuberville said. “It is about pushing a narrative that you want to put gender into sports and let everyone know we’re trying to show, ‘Hey, we’re going to take the masculinity out of it a little bit.’”
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The team has stood by the two men, affirming the team is “proud” to have them on the sidelines for this upcoming season.
“Male cheerleaders have been part of previous Vikings teams and have long been associated with collegiate and professional cheerleading,” the Vikings told NBC News. “We support all our cheerleaders and are proud of the role they play as ambassadors of the organization.”
Suzanne Somers’ widower finds romance with actress who ‘floated his boat’
Alan Hamel was mourning the loss of his wife, Suzanne Somers, when he crossed paths with a familiar face.
The former television host recently confirmed his new romance with “Blade Runner” actress Joanna Cassidy, who was a guest on his show decades ago. Cassidy, 80, also starred with Somers in the 1985 miniseries “Hollywood Wives.” According to Hamel, 89, the pair ran into each other months ago.
“There was that connection,” he told Fox News Digital. “And we’ve spent a lot of time being with each other, which is great. And I’m almost 10 years older than her, so I’m Joanna’s older man. She’s always wanted an older man. And I came along… We have both been very active in the entertainment business most of our lives, so neither one of us has anything to prove. We’ve both relaxed into what I refer to as the cocktail hour of our lives.”
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Somers, who famously starred as Chrissy Snow in the sitcom “Three’s Company,” died in 2023 at age 76. The actress battled breast cancer for over 23 years. She and Hamel were married from 1977 until her death.
Hamel admitted that “it was odd” stepping into the dating scene after enjoying a happy marriage for so long.
“Suzanne and I used to go out on dates once a week, sometimes twice,” he shared. “We’d get dressed up, go to a nice restaurant, order a nice bottle of wine, and sit there, enjoying the evening and each other. That went for 55 years, even before we were officially married. So, I was used to dating. I love dating. So, when I felt ready to date again, I did not want some gossip [magazine] saying, ‘Alan is now dating.’”
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“So, what I did was invite a lot of female friends,” he shared. “I’m not romantically involved with any of them, but I would invite two of them who know each other really well to go on a date with me. The three of us went on a date. If someone looked at the three of us, obviously, they knew it wasn’t a romantic date. But those were the first dates I took on. And it felt good. I remembered how much fun dating was.”
As Hamel quietly grieved, he was encouraged to meet up with Cassidy. The connection was instant.
“It was quite natural,” Cassidy told Fox News Digital about their first date. “I found myself falling into a place that felt very comfortable. I felt very much at ease… I think our first date lasted three days.”
“I also believe that, energetically, you can draw the right people to you,” she shared. “I mostly don’t call Alan ‘Alan.’ I call him ‘Ah.’ It also happens to be his initials. It just seems like the right name for our mystical get-togetherness. And look, I was quite prepared to move along. I’ve lived alone for a long time. I’ve met people, but no one really floated my boat like Alan did. I just met him, and I went, ‘Wow, this is a solid connection. This is great.’”
Hamel is also fulfilling a promise he made to his late wife during the last days of her life.
“When we knew the end was near, she said to me, ‘Once I’m gone, I don’t want you to mope around,’” Hamel recalled. “’I want you to live your life.’ I told her OK. But then she looked at me and said, ‘I’m serious. I don’t want you to mope around.’ Again, I said OK.”
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“When Suzanne passed, I was suddenly living alone,” he said. “But I have this incredible family. There’s not one dud among them – three kids and six grandkids. I see some of them weekly… And after Suzanne passed, they made sure I was never alone for the first two and a half months. We would sit around, tell stories about Suzanne, have all the big laughs, look back at photographs and hundreds of hours of tapes. It’s been wonderful… And along came Joanna. She has been my only date since she arrived on the scene, which I’m grateful for.”
“If a relationship is long and happy, and suddenly your partner disappears, I think there can still be hope,” he reflected.
Hamel noted the modern approach to dating has never felt right to him.
“I’ve never been on a dating site,” he said. “What I keep hearing is that they’re dangerous. People put pictures of themselves that were taken 40 years ago. It’s hard to believe anything anybody says on a dating site. Now I’m sure there are legit sites, but I have no interest in them at all.”
And Cassidy is different, he chuckled.
“Joanna is very active in things that I would never attempt to do, like air bungee. She also takes these classes where she’s inside a silk envelope upside down, suspended in the air doing yoga. Who thinks this stuff up? Meanwhile, I’m into relaxing. I’m an expert at sitting still. I love putting my brain in neutral and just staring. When people say, ‘What are you thinking about?’ The answer is nothing. But Joanna’s brain is the antithesis of mine. It’s going 24/7. The expression, ‘ants in your pants,’ applies to her. She’s constantly in motion. She never stops. I’m just sitting.”
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“I have a landscaping business,” Cassidy boasted. “I’m a photographer, designer, gardener, animal rescuer, and I still work in show business. I have a movie coming out in October, “Killing Faith” with Bill Pullman. And I just finished a film with Beverly D’Angelo… It’s very hard for me to sit still. I have to constantly keep busy, constantly be in motion. And there are lots of things that I love to do, things that bring my life joy every day. I think that’s very important to have. And Alan knows that.”
Hamel also keeps busy making sure Somers’ legacy is kept alive. He and his family are hands-on in running SuzanneSomers.com, where fans can purchase her beauty and wellness products. They’re active on her social media accounts and share her words of wisdom when it comes to health. They are also in the process of launching a “Suzanne AI” where fans can “interact with her one-on-one.”
Hamel and Cassidy are happily enjoying their blossoming romance. They remained coy when asked if love was in the air.
“I love love,” said Hamel. “I cherish love – all kinds of love. I have friends I love. There are so many different kinds of love. But in terms of romantic love, I don’t think there could be anything greater than when two people suddenly find that they’re attracted to one another in many different ways. There’s an uncovering of layers.”
“I think that love is when you’re willing to really put yourself aside and make that other person your focus,” chimed Cassidy. “I think it has to do with the ego going away and dissolving. It’s about really being able to listen to someone else. I find that you go into a state of awe. I’ll go, ‘Wow, I am really present with this person.’ And you won’t hear me say the word ‘love’ a lot. I am very quiet about that. It’s because it means so much to me. It has to be really true.”
And it’s never too late to embark on a new romantic journey, she insisted.
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“Don’t give up,” she said. “There are billions of people on the planet. It’s difficult to trust people. But I think if you stay in a very hopeful place and have positive thoughts, life can open up to you in unexpected ways.”
Judge denies bond for illegal immigrant trucker in deadly Florida Turnpike wreck
A Florida judge on Saturday denied bond to Rajinder Singh, an illegal migrant trucker from India accused of causing a deadly crash in Fort Pierce that killed three people.
St. Lucie County Judge Lauren Sweet ruled that Singh is an unauthorized alien and a substantial flight risk.
Sweet also found probable cause for all six charges against Singh and classified them as forcible felonies under Florida law.
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“There are no conditions of release that will ensure your appearance at trial,” Sweet said. “Therefore, sir, I’m setting your bond on each charge at no bond.”
Singh, who appeared virtually from the St. Lucie County Jail, with the help of an interpreter, was arrested on two warrants charging him with three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of manslaughter for the deadly Aug. 12 crash.
Investigators say Singh attempted an illegal U-turn in his semi-truck, causing his truck to jackknife, blocking the northbound lanes of the Florida Turnpike. A minivan then slammed into the trailer, killing all three people inside.
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Sweet said that both arrest warrant affidavits were previously reviewed by a judge. Each judge found probable cause at that time for each of the six charges.
“This court finds there is probable cause to believe you committed a forcible felony for all six charges,” Sweet said.
Singh hesitated when asked if he wanted an attorney before Sweet provisionally appointed the public defender’s office to represent him.
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Singh was arrested in Stockton, California, last week and extradited back to Florida.
Singh, who crossed into the United States illegally in 2018 via the southern border, obtained a commercial driver’s license in California. He attempted to obtain work authorization, but it was rejected by the first Trump administration on Sept. 14, 2020, according to Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs.
Dems hit with urgent warning to ditch ‘woke’ ‘self-defeating’ language in new memo
A blunt memo circulated Friday urges Democrats to ditch “elitist” jargon that is alienating to voters if they want to defeat President Donald Trump’s agenda.
In the message titled, “Was It Something I Said?,” Democratic think tank Third Way warned Democratic officials against using language packed with progressive framing, labeling such terms as “therapy-speak,” “seminar room language,” and “organizer jargon,” among others.
The memo highlighted 44 words and phrases seen as divisive, including “privilege,” “safe space,” “existential threat,” “the unhoused,” “birthing person,” “Latinx,” and “incarcerated people.”
Third Way argues these terms make Democrats appear like radical “enforcers of wokeness” to the average American.
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Third Way stressed it is not policing language. The group even admitted using some of these terms in its own papers. However, it urged Democratic officials to reflect before using such terms.
“Before you draft your angry tweet thread, think about conversations with persuadable voters in your own life—especially friends, family, and co-workers—and consider whether the use of the language above would help or hurt your case,” the Third Way memo said.
The group argued that these terms raise red flags for many Americans, not because they are bigoted, but because they fear cancellation for speaking freely around liberals who use these terms.
Matt Bennett, Third Way’s executive vice president of public affairs, told Fox News Digital the memo was intended for “everyone in Democratic politics who has a public-facing role.”
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“When elected officials, candidates, and high-profile spokespeople use this kind of language, it is deeply alienating. And while it might be well-intentioned, by empowering the right, it ends up hurting the very people it’s intended to shield,” he said.
The group adds its messaging push stems from frustration with what they view as “damaging, self-defeating language being weaponized against our allies.”
“Even after the terrible losses in November, too many on the left have not gotten the message that they live in a bubble and that folks outside of that bubble think that kind of language is somewhere between silly and offensive,” Bennett added.
The memo aligns with broader concerns raised by prominent Democrats since the November election.
Former Democratic Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel warned in June that Democrats needed to stop worrying about identity politics and become a big-tent party again if they wanted to win elections.
“Why do Democrats have a problem?” he told “The Bulwark” host Tim Miller. “Because we’re punks, and we not only talk like punks, we talk down to people, we get caught up in a set of issues that aren’t relevant.”
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On “Inside Politics” on Friday, CNN’s John King said that Third Way had a point about Democratic messaging resonating with voters.
“A lot of people used to be Democrats who are now Trump voters,” King said. “They do think the Democratic Party speaks a different language.”
King said politicians and journalists should talk about things that are relevant to most of America, not just those in “New York or San Francisco.”
“But I do think people in middle America think that the elitists have lost their way and speak a language that they don’t understand,” he continued.
Epstein gal pal Ghislaine Maxwell drops Trump, Clinton names in newly released transcripts
The Justice Department released hours of interviews between a top federal prosecutor and Ghislaine Maxwell, the only person convicted of or held civilly liable for a role in Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sat down with Maxwell in a federal prison in Tallahassee, where she was being held until recently. In the interview, she denied having trafficked anyone or having witnessed any nonconsensual sexual activity or any sex involving minors.
She said she never witnessed President Donald Trump doing anything “inappropriate with anybody.” She shot down claims that former President Bill Clinton had traveled to Epstein’s infamous island in the U.S. Virgin Islands and said the Clintons were her friends, not Epstein’s.
“I do believe that Epstein did a lot of, not all, but some of what he’s accused of, and I’m not here to defend him in any respect whatsoever,” Maxwell told Blanche. “I don’t want to, and I don’t think he requires, nor deserves any type of protection or – from me in any way, to sugarcoat what he did or didn’t do”
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WEIGHS RELEASE OF GHISLAINE MAXWELL INTERVIEW
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Authorities published hundreds of pages of transcripts as well as audio recordings of the interview on the DOJ website. The terms of the interview granted her limited immunity from further prosecution unless she told lies.
Maxwell denied Epstein had a “client list” and said he did not maintain a stockpile of blackmail material against prominent associates.
This is one man. He’s not some – they’ve made him into this. He’s not that interesting. He’s a disgusting guy who did terrible things to young kids.
Maxwell also attempted to explain what she believes is the origin of claims that Epstein kept the “list.”
In 2009, she said Epstein had finished a slap-on-the-wrist sentence for child sex trafficking, but civil suits were pouring in, some from the law firm Rothstein Adler. A lawyer there called the FBI to say he had a “piece of evidence” that belonged to Epstein, she said. That was “the list,” she said, adding that she believed he became a confidential informant to the FBI.
She said he obtained the list through a sting operation involving Epstein’s former butler, who said in a deposition he had “handwritten notes, or a journal, whatever,” according to Maxwell.
Rothstein Adler was later raided by the FBI. Lawyers at the firm were prosecuted for a number of alleged crimes, including money laundering, fraud, conspiracy and a Ponzi scheme.
“This is one man,” Maxwell said. “He’s not some – they’ve made him into this. He’s not that interesting. He’s a disgusting guy who did terrible things to young kids.”
She reiterated past statements that she does not believe he killed himself, and she revealed Epstein told her he had a heart condition that prevented him from having normal sexual intercourse.
She said she met Epstein in the early 1990s and began working for him. She said their own sexual relationship ended in 1999.
In one exchange, she told Blanche she had grown to believe that Epstein wasn’t very into her.
“There was some indications that he would actively tell other people to lie to me or conceal things from me, and that he never loved me, and I wasn’t his type,” she said.
In the mid-to-late ‘90s, she said, Epstein began traveling increasingly with “masseuses.” According to Epstein’s accusers, he used massages as cover for sex.
“In the early ’90s, I don’t remember traveling so much with other people,” she said. “There would be a masseuse or a yoga person, but now he started to travel with more, always a masseuse.”
Also around that time, he began a testosterone dosage, she said.
“He started doing testosterone, and that altered his character,” she told Blanche. “And I believe that started in the late ’90s. And I believe that the FBI has his medical records, and you may see that on his medical records.”
Another person she said she never saw act inappropriately was the U.K.’s Prince Andrew, a friend of Epstein’s who appears in an image with her and the late Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, 17 at the time, that she said isn’t real.
“I believe it’s literally a fake photo,” she said of the infamous snap, purported to have been taken at her former London townhouse. “I do not know that they met.”
Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year. She had accused the royal of forcing her into sex inside Maxwell’s home in London’s ritzy Belgravia neighborhood. The prince was relieved of his royal duties amid fallout from the scandal but has always denied allegations of wrongdoing. He agreed to pay Giuffre an undisclosed settlement in 2022 and to donate to her charity for crime victims.
Maxwell also said she was not responsible for introducing Epstein to Andrew. She said they met at a dinner party in Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket in the late 1990s or early 2000s.
In a statement on Twitter, Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, alleged that she had only been convicted because the DOJ needed a scapegoat after Epstein died in jail before his case went to trial.
“Ghislaine Maxwell is innocent and never should have been tried, much less convicted, in this case,” Markus wrote. “She never committed or participated in sexual abuse against minors, or anyone else for that matter.”
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after she was convicted at trial in 2021 of helping Epstein traffic teen girls.
She has an ongoing appeal and has signaled that she is willing to sit for interviews with both federal prosecutors and Congress.
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Epstein died in a federal jail cell in 2019 before he faced trial himself. His official cause of death has been ruled a suicide, a conclusion rejected by his brother.
The release came with little warning, days after federal judges denied the DOJ’s requests to unseal grand jury materials from both Maxwell and Epstein’s criminal cases.