Cam here 👋 bringing you your daily dose of what people are doing – good, bad, and otherwise – in the world of politics. We’re diving into the stories you won’t see anywhere else. And remember, you can also keep up with me over on TikTok and Bluesky.
And if you’re looking for a little more from COURIER, Akilah Hughes breaks the chilling wave of corporate capitulation to Trump in the most recent episode of “How is This Better?”
Since day one of Trump’s political career, people have desperately attempted to normalize his absurd abuses of power and blatant corruption – and 10 years later, much of corporate media remains a victim of their own attempts to return to a sense of normalcy.
It’s time to stop sane-washing the insanity.
What Happened
The Trump administration announced plans Tuesday to penalize banks it believes are restricting services to clients for political reasons, two of which have provided the federal government with financial documents linking convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking operation to his wealthy clients.
It’s those two banks, JPMorganChase and Bank of America, that President Donald Trump has repeatedly singled out when airing his grievances over being de-banked after his first term.
“The banks discriminated against me very badly, and I was very good to the banks,” Trump said in an interview on CNBC. “I’ll give you me as an example. I had hundreds of millions. I had many, many accounts loaded up with cash, loaded up with cash, and [JPMorgan] told me, ‘I’m sorry, sir, we can’t have you. You have 20 days to get out.’”
For years, the president has complained that he had been de-banked by large financial institutions for political reasons. He wasn’t; he was de-banked for inciting an insurrection. In 2021, 10 major financial institutions said they were closing accounts or pausing political donations to anyone closely involved in the Jan. 6 attack, mostly because government instability is bad for business.
But of those 10, Trump has only singled out the two US-based banks as the main targets of his executive order. And of those 10, only two that would be impacted by the order had Epstein as a client.
An ongoing US Senate Finance Committee investigation into Epstein uncovered thousands of suspicious activity reports on the convicted sex offender’s transactions from four banks: Deutsche Bank, Bank of New York Mellon, Bank of America, and JPMorgan. The suspicious activity includes massive overpayments to Epstein from billionaires for “tax services” and subsequent payments to Eastern European countries, where women who were trafficked to Epstein’s private island were from.
In the cases of JPMorgan and Bank of America, some of the reports weren’t filed until they were under the threat of scrutiny. Suspicious activity from the early 2000s wasn’t reported until after Epstein was arrested in 2019, and in at least three cases, not until after his death.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a ranking member of the committee, said investigators found a trail linking $170 million that went from Wall Street billionaire Leon Black to Epstein through Bank of America that can prove billionaires like Black financed Epstein’s trafficking operation.
In fact, the Wall Street billionaire actually admitted it in 2023: as part of a $62 million settlement with the US Virgin Islands, Black acknowledged that he knew his payments to Epstein were being used to “fund his operations in the Virgin Islands.”
“We felt from the beginning this was a follow-the-money case,” Wyden said in an interview with the New York Times. “This horrific sex-trafficking operation cost Epstein a lot of money, and he had to get that money from somewhere.”
JPMorgan left a similar legal paper trail. They settled a lawsuit in 2023 with Epstein’s victims for $290 million because the bank had been aware of suspicious activity with Epstein’s transactions, but didn’t report it for years. Later that year, they settled a lawsuit with the US Virgin Islands for $75 million in relation to Epstein’s sex trafficking. In both settlements, JPMorgan claimed no wrongdoing and took no civil responsibility.
“While the settlement does not involve admissions of liability, the firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes,” JP Morgan said in a statement.
Investigators have not found a similar money trail linking billionaires to Epstein at Bank of New York Mellon. They have, however, been stalled indefinitely by the Trump administration, which revoked access to the US Treasury, where the suspicious activity reports are held. Republicans on the committee have declined Wyden’s request to issue a subpoena for the documents, further shielding them from scrutiny.
While Deutsche Bank also settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with Epstein’s victims, the exact impact Trump’s executive order would have on the bank, which is based in Germany, remains unclear.
But the other two, Bank of America and JP Morgan, both had Trump as a client while he was friends with Epstein, and have shown that, at the end of the day, they’ll hand over incriminating evidence, or otherwise do whatever they can to spare their shareholders, at the expense of clients like Epstein, Black, and Trump.
Attempts to Sanewash
Trump says banks discriminate against his supporters while White House prepares order
Trump says JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America rejected him as a customer
Trump Airs Personal Financial Grievances Ahead of ‘Debanking’ Crackdown
Far-Right Spin
It’s easy for individual members of Congress to get overlooked by national outlets as they quietly skate to reelection again, and again, and again. The following is an overview of different congressional representatives you may not have heard of, with fun facts about their origin stories they’ve tried to keep out of the public narrative.
US Rep. Brian Babin, Texas’ 36th Congressional District
Since taking office in 2015, Rep. Babin has:
Seen his net worth increase from $2.5 million to over $3.5 million, with a short-lived spike to $6.2 million in 2021
Sponsored 99 bills
Authored one bill that has been signed into law, to rename a post office
Proudly documented his misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia
Begged Trump to pardon convicted war criminals
Attempted to end birthright citizenship
Been investigated by his peers for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results
Championed the failed SCOTUSCare Act, which would require US Supreme Court justices to obtain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace
Attempted to stop refugee programs during the 2015 European migrant crisis, which had partially been caused by US-funded proxy wars in the Middle East
Fun Facts
Babin began his professional journey by enlisting in the US Air Force in 1975. He left after only four years, however, as he felt “demoralized” by his commander-in-chief, President Jimmy Carter. He left the service and went to work on Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign.
He took the lessons of success he learned from Reagan back home, where he was elected mayor of Woodville, Texas. His success was undercut by his bigotry, however, during his failed 1998 congressional campaign. Openly anti-LGBTQ Babin hired an openly gay man to be his campaign manager, who quit without warning a few months before the general election.
"Babin abhors homosexuality. I am a homosexual," Jon-Marc McDonald said in his resignation statement. "Therefore, I can no longer work for someone who thinks that my sexuality is a disease, a sin and unnatural."
McDonald later claimed Babin told staff that “homosexuals should be shot,” and went on to become a successful New York playwright. Babin was given a series of consolation-prize positions in state government by former Governors George W. Bush and Rick Perry until he saw an opportunity to snag a safe Republican seat in the US House in 2015.
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