Ben Johansen
@benjohansen3
reporter + co-authoring west wing playbook @politico | reach me: [email protected] | Signal: bjohansen.51
Here’s the timeline: - May 2007, federal prosecutor submits a draft 60 count indictment against Epstein. - NPA was signed instead in September 2007. - After exhausting his legal efforts Epstein fulfills NPA obligations in June 2008. Per IG report: justice.gov/archives/opa/p…
MARKWAYNE MULLIN: Remember, there was a sweetheart plea deal that was struck in 2009, way before Trump was even considering to be in office, under the Obama administration TAPPER: No. It was 2008. The US attorney at the time was a guy named Alex Acosta. He was a Bush appointee.…
A growing number of Dems from across the party’s ideological spectrum are speaking out about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as global leaders and relief groups warn that the situation in the strip has reached a breaking point. more w/ @benjohansen3 ⬇️ politico.com/news/2025/07/2…
Trump posts a meme of him and JD Vance chasing Obama in cop cars. …using the meme version of Vance.
SCOOP: Navy Secretary John Phelan is attempting to curb the role of the service’s No. 2 leader even before Trump’s pick Hung Cao arrives at the DOD, @paulmcleary, @reporterjoe, @dlippman and me report in @politico. politico.com/news/2025/07/2…
NEW: The @StateDept confirmed to me that Under Secretary of State Darren Beattie — who was fired from the WH in 2018 over his ties to white nationalists — is now leading the embattled US Institute of Peace. Read more about Beattie & the turmoil at USIP: politico.com/news/2025/07/2…
If you didn’t hear this story from Anas Baba on NPR today, you should take a listen. He walked 3 hours to find a working internet connection to file the story. npr.org/2025/07/25/nx-…
NEW: Two veteran NOAA officials have been placed on admin leave, per the agency’s spokesperson. W/ @dcusickmpls politico.com/news/2025/07/2…
NEW: MAGA sends a warning shot to Bondi for fumbling Epstein saga “so badly.” “She is in for a rough September at the very least,” one House Republican says. from @kyledcheney @meredithllee @eorden politico.com/news/2025/07/2…
Our hedge fund owners & management just laid off close to 10% of the the Chicago Tribune newsroom for no clear reason, in essentially the same breath as they offered $88 million to bring the show to Dallas 🙃
Today, @chicagotribune laid off five guild staff members in a roughly 10% cut to our newsroom. These layoffs underscore a sad but unsurprising failure of leadership by Alden Global Capital, our hedge fund owner, and local management.
The correction here: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a dead bat. The bat was alive. tinyurl.com/4wpa3fsu
"When Justice Department officials reviewed what Attorney General Pam Bondi called a 'truckload' of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein earlier this year, they discovered that Donald Trump’s name appeared multiple times" wsj.com/politics/justi…
The role of “Elon Musk” has been cast in the big OpenAI-Sam Altman movie starring Andrew Garfield from Amazon Studios. Elon will be played by….wait for it…Ike Barinholtz (Sal Saperstein from The Studio).
NEW: The federal government is turning its sights on Harvard -- again. Read about the new effort to block the University from sponsoring international students and researchers: politico.com/news/2025/07/2…
JUST IN: President Obama's office responds to Trump's comments.
President Trump is attempting to shift the public’s focus away from the building crisis around the release of sealed documents detailing the Jeffrey Epstein case by urging his Justice Department to go after former President Obama. ow.ly/6Z2J50Wtv7b
The White House’s attempts to mollify President Donald Trump’s supporters’ growing outrage over the investigation into Epstein just doesn't seem to be working. Latest for @politico politico.com/news/2025/07/2…
(Congress can't compel presidents -- current or former -- to testify)
JUST IN: Speaker Johnson tells me says he has no concern at all about bringing Former President Barack Obama in for a congressional deposition or subpoena over the newly declassified documents bombshell. "If it's uncomfortable for him, he shouldn't have been involved in…
It’s July 2025 and President Trump has taken a question on Jeffrey Epstein and the DOJ and pivoted it to talking about Hillary Clinton and the Steele dossier. Time is a flat circle I guess.
NEW: Staffers at local NPR and PBS stations around the country were devastated by the news that Congress approved $1.1B in federal funding cuts to public media last week, a move that could jeopardize the futures of dozens of stations. w/ @aaronpellish politico.com/news/2025/07/2…
Scoop: A WSJ reporter was slated to be part of the travel pool this weekend when Trump travels to Scotland. After the paper's Epstein story last week, the WH booted them from the pool. w/ @iriesentner politico.com/news/2025/07/2…
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Poor guy got dragged away from enjoying his Wolf Spritzer