#denials — Public Fediverse posts

#usa #israel #iran : #warofaggression / #withdrawal / #negotiations / #claims / #denials / #diplomacy / #mediations / #demands

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/iran-blasts-trump-claims-direct-talks-false-market-manipulation

#usa #israel #iran : #warofaggression / #withdrawal / #negotiations / #claims / #denials / #diplomacy / #mediations / #demands

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/iran-blasts-trump-claims-direct-talks-false-market-manipulation

New #Epstein #files reveal he may have #trafficked #girls to others despite #official #denials

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/02/epstein-files-new-batch

New #Epstein #files reveal he may have #trafficked #girls to others despite #official #denials

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/02/epstein-files-new-batch

Letters from an American – November 17, 2025 (Monday) – by Heather Cox Richardson

Letters from an American, November 17, 2025 (Monday)

By Heather Cox Richardson, Nov 17, 2025

President Donald J. Trump spent the weekend flooding social media with posts claiming that his economic policies are working and that his 34 felony convictions and the investigations into his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russian operatives were illegitimate, and posting angrily about those people calling out his association with Jeffrey Epstein. He even reposted a statement from one of his own lawyers saying, “If Jeffrey Epstein had any dirt on Donald Trump, he would have had great leverage in the criminal case against him at the time he died,” which perhaps conveys a different message than he intended.

Then, after fighting furiously against the upcoming House vote over releasing the Epstein files the FBI collected as part of its investigation into the convicted sex abuser, at 9:15 p.m. last night Trump abruptly reversed course, saying that House Republicans should vote in favor of releasing the files “because we have nothing to hide.” “I DON’T CARE!” he posted.”

But of course, he does care, as is evident from how deeply he fought the release of the files the FBI collected during its investigation of Epstein right up until the final signature on the House discharge petition that would force the House to vote on a measure to require the Justice Department to release the files. As Meredith Kile of People magazine reported, when a female Bloomberg reporter at a press gaggle aboard Air Force One November 14 asked him if there was anything “incriminating” in the Epstein files, he pointed a finger in her face and said: “Quiet! Quiet, Piggy.”

In the hours before House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) swore in Representative Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) at 4:00 on Wednesday, Trump and his loyalists worked to pressure Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) to remove her name from the discharge petition. She refused. As soon as Johnson swore her into office, Grijalva signed the petition, teeing up a vote on a bill requiring the release of the files.

On Thursday, November 13, the people behind the White House social media account seemed to be trying to combat the Epstein story by pushing the image of Trump as a happily married family man. The account posted an image of Trump and First Lady Melania Trump listening to the U.S. Marine Band and chatting, then a video of Trump behind the Oval Office desk, giving a medallion and a pen each to four small children. The caption read, “The best president,” with a heart emoji.

On Friday, November 14, the White House social media account posted an image of Trump and the First Lady embracing under the caption “I can’t help falling in love with you,” along with an emoji of musical notes and a heart. On Sunday, November 16, it posted a picture of the two of them striding toward the cameras holding hands, under the caption “America’s power couple,” with an eagle and an American flag emoji.

That Trump’s hand is weakening showed on Friday, when the leader of the Indiana Senate announced that it would not hold a meeting in December to gerrymander all nine of Indiana’s districts to favor Republicans. Currently, the Indiana delegation to the House of Representatives has seven Republicans and two Democrats. Trump and Indiana governor Mike Braun have put great pressure on the legislature to redistrict, but even though Republicans hold a supermajority in the Indiana legislature, not enough Republican senators are willing to face the anger of voters to back the plan.

Then, over the weekend, rumors spread that as many as 100 House Republicans would vote in favor of the measure. Their constituents are eager for the release of the files, which Trump promised on the campaign trail, and the material already released from the Epstein estate has been damaging enough that representatives have reason to worry whether the material in the FBI files is even worse, leaving them in the position of having defended that behavior if they continue to cover it up. On Sunday, Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) told Jonathan Karl of ABC News’s This Week that he was hoping to get a veto-proof majority in favor of the release.

The signs were clear: Trump had lost control of the House Republicans.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: November 17, 2025 (Monday) – by Heather Cox Richardson

#2025 #america #books #deflect #denials #donaldTrump #education #health #heatherCoxRichardson #history #houseRepublicans #lettersFromAnAmerican #libraries #library #libraryOfCongress #misinformation #opinion #politics #resistance #science #substack #trump #trumpAdministration #unitedStates #weakerTrump #whiteHouse

The political danger of the Epstein files for Trump – CNN Politics

The political danger of the Epstein files for Trump

Politics• 4 min read

Analysis by Aaron Blake, 10 hr ago

If President Donald Trump has nothing to hide vis-à-vis Jeffrey Epstein, he sure has a weird way of showing it.

Trump hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the convicted sex offender, but he’s doing a great job of looking suspicious.

And that could be a political problem in and of itself – regardless of whatever ultimately comes from the Epstein files.

A batch of newly released Epstein emails on Wednesday added details about Trump’s past relationship with Epstein but no smoking guns. (The White House said the emails “prove absolutely nothing.”)

In one of those emails from 2011, Epstein expressed surprise to accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump’s name hadn’t surfaced amid accusations involving Epstein. Epstein added that Trump had at one point spent hours with Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre at Epstein’s house.

Related article Takeaways from the new Epstein emails mentioning Trump

And in 2019, Epstein appeared to signal Trump was quite aware of Maxwell recruiting girls from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in the early 2000s, saying “of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”

While some have claimed these emails show Trump had knowledge of or even involvement in Epstein’s crimes, it’s not nearly so evident. Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, has acknowledged meeting Trump and never accused him of wrongdoing. And Trump has acknowledged being aware of Maxwell recruiting employees including Giuffre from Mar-a-Lago. (The big question there is whether Trump had any inkling about what Maxwell was recruiting a minor female like Giuffre for.)

But also notable on Wednesday was Trump’s reaction.

As all this was going down, he and his White House seemed preoccupied with what appeared to an 11th-hour campaign to thwart a House discharge petition that would force a vote on releasing the full Epstein files.

With the petition due to get a decisive 218th signature when a new Democratic member of Congress was sworn in later that day, the White House held a meeting in the Situation Room with a key GOP lawmaker who’d signed on, while another said she was playing phone tag with the president. Both GOP congresswomen later told CNN Trump hadn’t personally lobbied them to remove their names. But the president also publicly pressured Republicans who sided with Democrats on forcing Epstein disclosures.

It was a weird move, to be sure. No Republicans removed their names from the petition, and Speaker Mike Johnson quickly said he would schedule a vote for next week on compelling the Justice Department to release the full files.

Related article Trump is getting pulled deeper and deeper into the Epstein drama

Even if the measure passes in the House, that’s not the end of the story. The GOP-led Senate would still have to take it up, and Trump would still have to sign it. So it’s not like this will cause the imminent release of the documents.

But Trump’s resistance to something his base has long clamored for – and the optics of the Situation Room meeting in particular – would only seem to deepen the huge suspicions that a large number of Americans already harbor about the government covering up Epstein-related matters.

And that gets at the big point here – and the political danger for Trump.

This is merely the latest baffling episode in the administration’s handling of the Epstein files. Among the others:

• The administration’s suspiciously timed, sudden reversal on releasing the files.
• Trump’s belated disclosure of his knowledge of Maxwell’s Mar-a-Lago recruitment.
• Trump’s weird denial of authoring a lewd letter for Epstein’s 50th birthday album.
• His other false claims about Epstein-related matters.
• The administration’s dubious decision to grant an interview with Maxwell, which seemed geared more toward helping Trump than anything else. (Sure enough, the newly released emails undercut Maxwell’s claims about Trump in that interview.)
• The transfer of Maxwell to a minimum-security prison camp that she didn’t appear eligible for without a waiver. The administration still hasn’t explained how this happened, months later. And CNN’s MJ Lee reported Thursday that Maxwell is getting special treatment there.

Even if Trump doesn’t have anything to hide, the danger here is in making it look a whole lot like he does.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: The political danger of the Epstein files for Trump | CNN Politics

#2025 #america #cnn #cnnPolitics #denials #donaldTrump #education #epstein #epsteinFiles #falseClaims #ghislaineMaxwell #health #history #jeffreyEpstein #libraries #library #libraryOfCongress #maxwellInterview #opinion #politics #prison #resistance #science #trump #trumpAdministration #unitedStates

The political danger of the Epstein files for Trump – CNN Politics

The political danger of the Epstein files for Trump

Politics• 4 min read

Analysis by Aaron Blake, 10 hr ago

If President Donald Trump has nothing to hide vis-à-vis Jeffrey Epstein, he sure has a weird way of showing it.

Trump hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the convicted sex offender, but he’s doing a great job of looking suspicious.

And that could be a political problem in and of itself – regardless of whatever ultimately comes from the Epstein files.

A batch of newly released Epstein emails on Wednesday added details about Trump’s past relationship with Epstein but no smoking guns. (The White House said the emails “prove absolutely nothing.”)

In one of those emails from 2011, Epstein expressed surprise to accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump’s name hadn’t surfaced amid accusations involving Epstein. Epstein added that Trump had at one point spent hours with Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre at Epstein’s house.

Related article Takeaways from the new Epstein emails mentioning Trump

And in 2019, Epstein appeared to signal Trump was quite aware of Maxwell recruiting girls from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in the early 2000s, saying “of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”

While some have claimed these emails show Trump had knowledge of or even involvement in Epstein’s crimes, it’s not nearly so evident. Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, has acknowledged meeting Trump and never accused him of wrongdoing. And Trump has acknowledged being aware of Maxwell recruiting employees including Giuffre from Mar-a-Lago. (The big question there is whether Trump had any inkling about what Maxwell was recruiting a minor female like Giuffre for.)

But also notable on Wednesday was Trump’s reaction.

As all this was going down, he and his White House seemed preoccupied with what appeared to an 11th-hour campaign to thwart a House discharge petition that would force a vote on releasing the full Epstein files.

With the petition due to get a decisive 218th signature when a new Democratic member of Congress was sworn in later that day, the White House held a meeting in the Situation Room with a key GOP lawmaker who’d signed on, while another said she was playing phone tag with the president. Both GOP congresswomen later told CNN Trump hadn’t personally lobbied them to remove their names. But the president also publicly pressured Republicans who sided with Democrats on forcing Epstein disclosures.

It was a weird move, to be sure. No Republicans removed their names from the petition, and Speaker Mike Johnson quickly said he would schedule a vote for next week on compelling the Justice Department to release the full files.

Related article Trump is getting pulled deeper and deeper into the Epstein drama

Even if the measure passes in the House, that’s not the end of the story. The GOP-led Senate would still have to take it up, and Trump would still have to sign it. So it’s not like this will cause the imminent release of the documents.

But Trump’s resistance to something his base has long clamored for – and the optics of the Situation Room meeting in particular – would only seem to deepen the huge suspicions that a large number of Americans already harbor about the government covering up Epstein-related matters.

And that gets at the big point here – and the political danger for Trump.

This is merely the latest baffling episode in the administration’s handling of the Epstein files. Among the others:

• The administration’s suspiciously timed, sudden reversal on releasing the files.
• Trump’s belated disclosure of his knowledge of Maxwell’s Mar-a-Lago recruitment.
• Trump’s weird denial of authoring a lewd letter for Epstein’s 50th birthday album.
• His other false claims about Epstein-related matters.
• The administration’s dubious decision to grant an interview with Maxwell, which seemed geared more toward helping Trump than anything else. (Sure enough, the newly released emails undercut Maxwell’s claims about Trump in that interview.)
• The transfer of Maxwell to a minimum-security prison camp that she didn’t appear eligible for without a waiver. The administration still hasn’t explained how this happened, months later. And CNN’s MJ Lee reported Thursday that Maxwell is getting special treatment there.

Even if Trump doesn’t have anything to hide, the danger here is in making it look a whole lot like he does.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: The political danger of the Epstein files for Trump | CNN Politics

#2025 #america #cnn #cnnPolitics #denials #donaldTrump #education #epstein #epsteinFiles #falseClaims #ghislaineMaxwell #health #history #jeffreyEpstein #libraries #library #libraryOfCongress #maxwellInterview #opinion #politics #prison #resistance #science #trump #trumpAdministration #unitedStates

1) #DOJ Just Released #redacted Transcripts of Deputy AG Todd Blanche’s Interview w #GhislaineMaxwell choreographed Q&A scripted #Perjury + Audio Recording link: https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview #GhislaineMaxwell #transcripts interview w #toddblanche #DOJ https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview #corruption #coverup #sextrafficking #crimes #trump #maga #law #legal #corruption #lawyers #trump mentioned 23 x in tape all choreographed #denials #proffer #convicted #lies #victims #survivors #jury #lies about #VirginiaGiuffre

1) #DOJ Just Released #redacted Transcripts of Deputy AG Todd Blanche’s Interview w #GhislaineMaxwell choreographed Q&A scripted #Perjury + Audio Recording link: https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview #GhislaineMaxwell #transcripts interview w #toddblanche #DOJ https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview #corruption #coverup #sextrafficking #crimes #trump #maga #law #legal #corruption #lawyers #trump mentioned 23 x in tape all choreographed #denials #proffer #convicted #lies #victims #survivors #jury #lies about #VirginiaGiuffre

I'll continue the Friday theme of using the knowledge platform by DoTadda. This essay talks about the use of AI-Driven healthcare denials and how different companies respond. @fatmnn.bsky.social Post: www.spsanderson.com/steveondata/... #Blog #GenAI #LLM #Healthcare #Denials

#Health #Insurers Deny 850 Million #Claims a Year. The Few Who Appeal Often Win. #Patients who contest denials face a daunting process, but many are successful. ‘This appeal saved my life.’ #medical #care #healthcare #insurance #denials #medicine #life #threatening #illness https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/health-insurance-denials-fight-back-70a1328e?st=H85QEB&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

#Health #Insurers Deny 850 Million #Claims a Year. The Few Who Appeal Often Win. #Patients who contest denials face a daunting process, but many are successful. ‘This appeal saved my life.’ #medical #care #healthcare #insurance #denials #medicine #life #threatening #illness https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/health-insurance-denials-fight-back-70a1328e?st=H85QEB&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Trump is not being successful as President. Don’t believe him. He doesn’t have the command the power he wants you to think he has. Don’t fall for it! #trump #losing #failure #floodingthezone #leaks #press #denials #executiveorders #weak #elonmusk #benjaminpdixon #ezraklein youtu.be/z5vMZukpruA?...

TRUMP is ALREADY LOSING! Ezra ...

If a plan has disputes solved by external entities on an increased basis, this can lead to them losing star ratings - this will lead to a drop in revenue indirectly (if marketplace or private via loss of sales) or directly (if Medicaid or Medicare, via loss of state funds)

Plans will try to avoid external complaints for that reason.

#healthinsurance #denials #claims #authorizations

Plans usually have the following dispute process

Internal appeal (the plan reviews)
External appeal (third party reviews)
Fair hearing (state reviews)

Then there is complaints
First internally, than with the state (insurance commision, attorney general, so on)

You usually can’t file complaints until plans’ contractual process is exhausted

#healthinsurance #claims #authorizations #denials

Regrettably, I work for a health insurer. I’m in CS, so I’m not involved in denial, but it has been morally injurious (I’ve been looking elsewhere for sometime, I suck at interviews lol).

If facing denials - follow the plans procedures - this may seem bad faith, but may prevent you from doing other actions.

#healthinsurance #denials #claims #authorizations #healthcare

Regrettably, I work for a health insurer. I’m in CS, so I’m not involved in denial, but it has been morally injurious (I’ve been looking elsewhere for sometime, I suck at interviews lol).

If facing denials - follow the plans procedures - this may seem bad faith, but may prevent you from doing other actions.

#healthinsurance #denials #claims #authorizations #healthcare

[Video] #Secret #video links #DonaldTrump to #Project2025 despite his #denials.

And in newly released #secretvideo from the #CentreforClimateReporting, one of the key #authors of #Project2025 revealed Trump’s involvement in the plan.

https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/secret-video-links-trump-to-project-2025-217275461681

[Video] #Secret #video links #DonaldTrump to #Project2025 despite his #denials.

And in newly released #secretvideo from the #CentreforClimateReporting, one of the key #authors of #Project2025 revealed Trump’s involvement in the plan.

https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/secret-video-links-trump-to-project-2025-217275461681

The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money #criminal #case on Friday 🔸turned down the former president’s request to postpone his trial 🔸because of publicity about the case.

It’s the latest in a string of delay #denials that Trump has gotten from various courts this week as he fights to stave off the trial’s start Monday with jury selection.

Judge Juan M. #Merchan wrote that 👉Trump “appears to take the position that his situation and this case are unique and that the pre-trial publicity will never subside. However, this view does not align with reality.”

https://apnews.com/article/trump-hush-money-trial-4c79619c5e89e13d672e070a4244a302

The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money #criminal #case on Friday 🔸turned down the former president’s request to postpone his trial 🔸because of publicity about the case.

It’s the latest in a string of delay #denials that Trump has gotten from various courts this week as he fights to stave off the trial’s start Monday with jury selection.

Judge Juan M. #Merchan wrote that 👉Trump “appears to take the position that his situation and this case are unique and that the pre-trial publicity will never subside. However, this view does not align with reality.”

https://apnews.com/article/trump-hush-money-trial-4c79619c5e89e13d672e070a4244a302

#Utah's top corrections official ‘blindsided’ by #US #DOJ finding the State #DepartmentofCorrection violated #transgender #inmate's #rights.

22 months into her #custody, after #repeated #care #request #denials and #delays, the #complainant dangerously conducted #surgery on herself and removed her own #testicles.

#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Utah #Police #Incarceration #Hate #Bigotry #Discrimination #Transphobia #NoPoliceAtPride

https://gephardtdaily.com/local/utah-corrections-official-blindsided-by-dojs-finding-that-prison-violated-transgender-inmates-rights/

#Utah's top corrections official ‘blindsided’ by #US #DOJ finding the State #DepartmentofCorrection violated #transgender #inmate's #rights.

22 months into her #custody, after #repeated #care #request #denials and #delays, the #complainant dangerously conducted #surgery on herself and removed her own #testicles.

#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Utah #Police #Incarceration #Hate #Bigotry #Discrimination #Transphobia #NoPoliceAtPride

https://gephardtdaily.com/local/utah-corrections-official-blindsided-by-dojs-finding-that-prison-violated-transgender-inmates-rights/

@tanweerdar
We have reached the age,
& perhaps all ages have been
Like this, just not as obviously
So, more educated & literate
As we are if we have escaped,
Where all facts end up being
Twisted into untruths by
The #denials of the mighty.
No-one gave past tyrants
Interviews in which to lie
To their people; their actions
Did it for them. & here's
The henchman, if you say
I'm lying about my new
Clothes in my nakedness.
Democracy is nothing
But a sword with secret edges.
#MastoPormpt #Poetry

@tanweerdar
We have reached the age,
& perhaps all ages have been
Like this, just not as obviously
So, more educated & literate
As we are if we have escaped,
Where all facts end up being
Twisted into untruths by
The #denials of the mighty.
No-one gave past tyrants
Interviews in which to lie
To their people; their actions
Did it for them. & here's
The henchman, if you say
I'm lying about my new
Clothes in my nakedness.
Democracy is nothing
But a sword with secret edges.
#MastoPormpt #Poetry

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63871448 #bbc’s #rosatkins+colleagues: The story of #michellemone and #ppemedpro. A story of #allegations and of #denials. In 6 mins.

On Lasswell's Model of Communication & the NSO Group

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasswell%27s_model_of_communication

So, the NSO group have issued a bald denial and announced they won't be answering further questions:
https://www.nsogroup.com/Newses/enough-is-enough/ (That's a JS-only link, text itself is here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27910919)

Harold Lasswell has an interesting model of communications:

• Who?
• Says What?
• In Which Channel?
• To Whom?
• With What Effect?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasswell%27s_model_of_communication

Lasswell, Harold (1948). Bryson, L. (ed.). The Structure and Function of Communication in Society. The Communication of Ideas. New York: Institute for Religious and Social Studies. p. 117.

All communication is performative art. The performances and audiences differ. Often for the same work.

Communications such as these have two principle audiences:

• The general public
• The interests for which the speaker is operating.

The message to the press and public is pretty clearly "fuck you".

The message to organisations which may have used such services, and who may or may not have a history of acting with lethal force to protect their interests, is "we deny everything, we are the shield between you and the world, and we will not be talking further, and we can say this as bluntly as possible because we have major institutional, interest, and/or state backing."

That's not an uncommon message. It's generally not phrased quite so bluntly. That it is here may in fact be part of the signaling.

(All clearly conjecture, though it coheres.)

#NSOGroup #PegasusProject #Spyware #Surveillance #SurveillanceState #SurvaillanceCapitalism #Israel #HowardLasswell #denials