THE CASH COMMENTARY FOR THANKSGIVING

                                                                    CASH MICHAELS

                IN THE FACE OF TYRANNY

                             by Cash Michaels

   

It is our deepest, most cherished tradition.

And there’s no  “perhaps” about it!

Opening our shores, and our borders, to those who seek a land, a home, of freedom, future and opportunity. For those willing to work hard and sacrifice, the promise of being allowed to do so as long as they understand that in exchange, they'll contribute to this glorious idea that for almost 250 years now, we’ve proudly called "America."

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said during his historic 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 

It should be no surprise that for generations now, the world has heard Dr. King’s prolific words of American promise, freedom and opportunity, and taken them to heart. That’s why many have come here. We should be very proud of that!

Now of course, as a nation, we must maintain our borders to make sure that those who come in understand that with citizenship comes responsibility, and respect for our rule of law. And normally, as a nation, we handle that question with civility, and justice. We do so in marked contrast to the tyranny of other nations. That is what makes us proud to be Americans.

And we share that pride with our collective energy, vision, and commitment to make this country the best that it can be for ourselves, our families, and each another.

That’s why last week was an extremely painful one for those of us who truly care about what being an American is all about. 

We turned on our television sets, and we saw human beings - men, women, and yes, children - living in fear across our state, running and hiding, even in the woods,  from masked federal agents with weapons from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chasing them for capture because, we’re told, they're “violent criminals” who don’t belong in our country.

Really? “Violent criminals?” Working at long established neighborhood businesses for years; raking the leaves from the front yards and streets of their churches and homes; driving their vehicles to their places of employment; attending church and public school; taking their children to school; at home enjoying what they thought was the safety and sanctity of their property they purchased with their hard earned money; and I could go.

Oh I don’t doubt that there are many undocumented immigrants in our communities here in North Carolina and elsewhere across the nation. But the disgraceful display of masked, armed, aggressive federal tyranny we all witnessed last week was anything but representative of the sacred rule of law we all cherish and covet.

        Wasn't very Christian either!

Hey masked  man! Yeah you, manhandling that defenseless Hispanic woman. What did she do? Why did you stop her? Where’s your warrant to arrest her? You and those masked goons with you also manhandling her and throwing her into the back of that unmarked van, where are you taking her? When will she see a judge? Have you read her her rights? Will she get an attorney? You know, our Constitution says she still has rights in this country whether she’s a citizen or not! Where did you say you’re taking her again? What the hell do you mean “Put down that phone?” Got news for you, Rambo… as long as you keep doing what you and your masked muscle men keep doing out here in public, out in the open, I have the right to pull out my iPhone and capture it all so that folks can see their precious tax dollars at work!

        Funny how a little tyranny in the neighborhood brings out the patriotism in people.

On Saturday, my wife and I decided to have a meal at a New Mexican restaurant that just opened near us recently. When we pulled up to the front the door to walk in, we were unexpectedly greeted with a sign taped to the entrance:

STOP - NO ICE ACCESS IN THIS BUSINESS. PRIVATE PROPERTY ENTRY RESTRICTED BY LAW. NOTICE TO ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT & IMMIGRATION AGENTS…..

I mean this thing made you stop and read it thoroughly to make sure you weren’t doing anything wrong just standing there. 

The notice had lots of legalese in smaller print to read, but the part I really found interesting was one of the last lines that said:

IF YOU ATTEMPT TO ENTER THIS BUSINESS WITHOUT A VALID JUDICIAL WARRANT , YOU WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE.

IF YOU ENTER, YOU RE TRESPASSING, AND WE WILL SEEK LEGAL RECOURSE!

The damn thing was enough to make you lose your appetite! But you know what? It didn’t stop my wife and I from going inside, getting a nice table along with a lot of other Saturday afternoon customers, not only having a great meal, but getting great food to go, and having pleasant conversations with our waitress and the manager, plus great service.

        It was a damn shame this business had to post that notice to protect its workers and customers.

But the whole experience also made me proud.

Proud of hundreds of fellow citizens who took to the streets in Charlotte, Raleigh, Cary and Durham last week to protest Trump administration tyranny and stand up for the rights of their neighbors who were being unjustly persecuted and hunted down like animals.

Proud of bold elected officials like Gov. Josh Stein, Rep. Alma Adams, and the mayors of Raleigh, Cary and Durham who issued messages in defense of the rights of all citizens, urging calm and caution, but also making sure that people knew their rights in the face of tyranny.

Proud of our local and national media that covered not just the outrage of the masked, armed federal tyranny, but what churches and civic groups were doing to confront the threat.

Yes, in the midst of undeniable shame being perpetrated by our federal government, there was a lot to be proud of in how North Carolinians banded together the week before Thanksgiving to protect the rights of people who were being racially profiled just because they were Hispanic or looked different. Illegally picked up and detained in many cases, some were actually naturalized American citizens with spotless criminal records. Some, I’m sure, even served proudly in our military, or had grown children who are doing so.

But there was also crap I couldn’t ignore, like from Republican House Speaker Destin Hall, who told the News & Observer in an interview that he saw nothing wrong with the Border Patrol raid tactics, and hoped “They will come back!”

MEMO TO SPEAKER HALL AND MAGA FOLKS LIKE HIM:

If, in fact we have so-called “violent criminals” in our midst, we’re supposed to have laws governing how we bring them to justice. That includes reading them their rights, and treating them humanely until they go before a court of law to face their charges.

This business of rounding human beings up like cattle and breaking up families must stop because it IS NOT THE AMERICAN WAY! It may be Trump’s way, but NOT ours!

Let’s say it plain here! ICE/Border Patrol agents have rounded up tens of thousands of people from here and across the country, supposedly “violent criminals,” and instead of taking them to court for the due process they're entitled to, have bound them up like animals, shaved their heads, and shipped them off to foreign prisons in other countries where they re beaten and abused. It’s no secret that the real goal here is to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from our country under the ruse of criminality.

        Oh I get it! Your boss hog Trump wants to get rid of as many as possible now so that they won’t be voting for Democrats in the future. And you think this is a winning strategy…!

That’s Trump’s mandate, and it’s a deep stain on our democracy, and our established rule of law.

We know you’re coming back, Border Patrol, because you told us so. But when you do, if you truly want respect for the work you’re assigned to do, try doing it legally! With federal warrants and advising those arrested of the rights they have. As those six Democratic congresspeople Trump threatened with death warned, if you’re in federal or military service, and you’re ordered to do something illegal, refuse to do it!

And you can start by taking those damn masks off your faces!  You carry guns, so what are you afraid of ?!!

For everybody else, I pray that you and your families have a safe, blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Be thankful for the freedoms we have left while we have them, but please, pray for the future of our nation. 

And as for you ICE, Border Patrol and your boss hog Donald Trump, I “respectfully” say…GOBBLE, GOBBLE to you and yours!!!

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THE CASH STUFF FOR NOVEMBER 24, 2025

                                                             CBP AGENT MAKING ARREST

RAIDS BY FEDERAL AGENTS

TRAMATIZE CHARLOTTE,

RALEIGH AND DURHAM

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

In his Nov. 21st letter to U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Gov. Josh Stein asked how long masked federal agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were scheduled to stay in North Carolina, continuing their immigration raids.

Stein also asked how many people have been arrested during the course of those raids in Charlotte, Raleigh, Cary and Durham last week? Where have those arrested in those raids been taken? And what policies are in place to protect children in areas where children are, like playgrounds and schools?

Reportedly, approximately 370 people were arrested by CBP in just Charlotte alone since Saturday, Nov. 15th.  The names of only eleven, however, have been released. Gov. Stein requested a complete list of those either arrested or detained, along with details pertaining to each one.

The governor has been among the many Democratic North Carolina elect officials highly critical of the CBP raids.

Republican House Speaker Destin Hall, however, has been the exact opposite.

In an interview with The Raleigh News & Observer, Speaker Hall lauded CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who have come to North Carolina to carry out the mandate of Pres. Donald Trump, saying voters knew what they would be getting when they elected Trump to office in 2024 when it came to fighting illegal immigration.

“We welcome federal law enforcement officials willing to come here and help us in this state enforce the law,” Hall told the N&O.

Speaker Hall also criticized those NC sheriffs who were elected in recent years who have refused to work with ICE and CBP agents in detaining illegal immigrants suspected of federal crimes. Hall said that it is because of those sheriffs’ refusal to comply with state law to do so, the ICE/CBP agents are now forced to come back to North Carolina to capture alleged “violent criminals” and law breakers in the country illegally.

“It looks like they’re doing a pretty good job at it right now. And so, we don’t have much to ask, other than to come back,” Speaker Hall added, also criticizing Democratic officials like Gov. Stein who have urged citizens to video CBP officers as they made arrests so that there is evidence of their actions and conduct.

Indeed, since their unannounced raids in Charlotte on Nov. 15th, the news of CBP arrests sent chills throughout North Carolina as businesses closed, students did not report to school, and people whose immigration status could be called into question stayed off the streets. Construction sites were abandoned because the CBP raids. Churches were vacant. Thousands of demonstrators from Charlotte, Raleigh, Cary and Durham took to the streets in their respective cities to protest as CBP agents raided there respectively, spreading fear and confusion.

Based on whatever details were being released by the U.S. Dept. of   Homeland Security, only a fraction of the hundreds of suspected “violent criminals” arrested actually had criminal records, published reports said. And yet, there were stories of masked federal agents, driving up to people in the street, or up to vehicles. Or businesses, grabbing people despite demands for those officers to show legal warrants.

In Durham by the end of the week after several people were detained there, hundreds of high school students gathered in downtown, holding signs and chanting for federal officers to leave their city. For the week, it is estimated that at least 30% of Durham Public School students stayed home from classes. 

In Raleigh, hundreds of protestors hit the streets and marched to the state Capitol amid reports of businesses closing and employees not reporting to work. Thousands of students also reportedly stayed home, Wake Public School System official confirmed.

In Cary, Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, Jr. sent out a statement to citizens saying, “This is a sad and difficult time in Cary, where more than a quarter of our citizens are from other countries and have chosen to bring their talents, ideas, and hard work to make this community the amazing place it is today.”

“Over the last 24 hours, I have gotten reports of federal agents moving throughout Cary — at homes, schools, hospitals, restaurants, and construction sites. Their activities were neither coordinated with nor conducted by the Cary Police Department…”

And in Charlotte, demonstrators protested in the parking lot of a Home Depot store, reacting to word that the retail chain was allowing ICE/CBP agents to arrest people there.

“They’re inhumane,” protestor Ami-Luise Badger told The NY Times of the masked federal officers.

The issue has proven to be divisive.

In the black community, there are many who feel that Hispanic immigrants are unwanted competitors for jobs, opportunities, and housing. They point to the fact that during the 2024 presidential election, a significant percentage supported the reelection of Pres. Trump, agreeing with his harsh border policies to keep other latinos out of the country.

But other black community leaders, like Jovita Lee, program director for the NC Black Alliance, countered that what is happening to Hispanic immigrants should be of concern to the African-American community.

Comparing the masked ICE/CBP raids to the old slave patrols of the past when white men would hunt down runaway slaves from Southern plantations, Ms. Lee told NC Newsline, “This narrative around that it has nothing to do with us, I would disagree with,” Lee said. “The discriminatory practices and the racism that it is rooted in is very reminiscent of what we saw in our own history.” 

“Folks are being picked up or identified strictly based on appearance, color of skin, how they may look, how their accent may sound, and that is absolutely rooted in discrimination,” Lee said. 

Homeland Security officials say their operations in North Carolina are not over, and that their federal agents will be back.

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NC NAACP DEFENDS 

REDISTRICTING LAWSUITS 

AGAINST DISMISS MOTION

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

In the aftermath of an all-Republican appointed federal three-judge panel rejecting challenges to the 2023 state and congressional redistricting maps used last year, after hearing arguments about blocking that map for the 2026 midterm elections, the NC NAACP, among other plaintiffs, filed their response last Friday with the court defending their two lawsuits against a motion to dismiss by Republican legislative leaders.

In order to give President Trump a better congressional advantage in the U.S. House, NC Republican legislative leaders redrew the First and Third congressional districts so the First - which Democratic Congressman Don Davis currently represents - would lean more Republican in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. The NC NAACP, Common Cause NC and other plaintiffs immediately filed suit in federal court to stop that redistricting.

Republican legislative leaders, however, defended the map redistricting as protected partisan gerrymandering.

“Plaintiffs do not bring partisan gerrymandering claims,” NC NAACP attorneys wrote in an effort to leapfrog a 2019 U.S. Supreme Court ruling making it legal. “Plaintiffs allege that Defendants engaged in gratuitous, retaliatory redistricting to replace the legislature’s own 2023 Congressional Plan for no other reason than to burden voters (including Plaintiffs) for their protected speech, association, and petitioning conduct. By removing Plaintiffs from their congressional districts, Defendants created concrete harm that chills Plaintiffs’ associational and petitioning rights by disrupting their political association and advocacy and blocking final resolution of their pending challenge to Congressional District 1”

But lawyers for GOP legislative leaders retorted that they’ve done nothing wrong.

“Supreme Court precedent is clear ‘that partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts,’” the Republican motion to dismiss maintained.

Meanwhile that same federal three-judge panel dismissed most of the plaintiffs' claims challenging the 2023 state and congressional maps, saying in a 181-page court order that plaintiffs had failed to prove any of their claims in two federal lawsuits.

Those lawsuits charged that the 2023 legislative voting districts illegally weakened black voting strength in Northeastern North Carolina’s historic Black Belt counties.

“After considering all the evidence, we find that Plaintiffs have failed to prove that the North Carolina General Assembly drew state Senate or federal congressional districts with the discriminatory purpose of minimizing or canceling out the voting potential of black North Carolinians,” the federal court ruled. “The racial data necessary to execute such a discriminatory purpose was not used in drafting the 2023 Senate or congressional plans. The circumstances surrounding the plans’ enactment and the resulting district configurations and composition are consistent with the General Assembly’s non-racial motivations, which included traditional districting criteria, North Carolina law, and partisan performance.”

“Having considered the entire record, judged the credibility of each witness, and weighed all the evidence, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to prove any of their claims against Defendants regarding the 2023 redistricting,” the three-judge panel ruled.

The order means that the only plaintiffs’ argument left standing involves recent changes made to the First and Third Congressional districts to enable an extra Republican seat in Congress to give Pres. Trump an advantage in 2026.

There was no word at press time as to when the three-judge panel will rule on the First Congressional District redrawn map.

Filing for all candidates running for public office in 2026 begins on December 1st.

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CASH COMMENTARY FOR NOV. 20, 2025

                                                                CASH MICHAELS
 

  THE TELL-TALE HEART

                                                            By Cash Michaels

        When you were a kid, ever read or hear the story of “The Tell-Tale Heart?’

It’s about this man who commits a serious crime -  a murder - and hides the body. But when authorities get close to where he’s hidden the truth, he starts sweating and acting weird in front of everybody, fearful that they will uncover that evidence in front of his face.

And the closer they get, the louder the guilty man "hears" the beating heart of his victim. Hears it to the point where he can’t stand it anymore, and confesses.

Kind of reminds me of Trump and the Epstein files.

        Now I'm not saying Trump has killed anybody, unless they were in a fishing boat near Venezuela lately. Good reason to stay on shore, and switch to chicken, in my opinion.

        Also, as of this writing, no conclusive evidence has been uncovered linking Donald John Trump, purported billionaire and currently the most corrupt president of the United States in history, to the heinous and fiendish child sex trafficking activities of now deceased billionaire buddy and convicted pedophile/sex offender, financier Jeffrey Epstein.

        And special note to pathetic right-wing talk show failure Megan Kelly - yes, Megyn, young girls ages 14 and 15 are still considered children in our society, no matter what your consistently ignorant mind and mouth have to say!

Trump and Epstein were close friends for a ten-year stretch of their lives, hung out together, and enjoyed many of the fruits of being wealthy playboys, which included being around beautiful young women and wannabe models. In fact, in 2002, Trump told New York Magazine that he had known Epstein for 15 years, and that he was a "terrific guy" who liked young, beautiful women as much as he did.

        Trump maintains that he never visited Epstein's island of sin like so many other rich and powerful men at the time, so he never took part in whatever debauchery went on there.

        Notice, however, that Trump never talks about hanging out at Epstein's Manhattan penthouse, from where the FBI later found lots and lots of videotapes, still pictures and documents detailing Epstein's rancid life. That evidence comprises the Epstein files that are suppose to be released now, material that was used to convict Epstein and eventually put him away in federal prison.

        Those are the same Epstein files Attorney Gen. Pam Bondi controls the release of, that Congress has now ordered her to release and make public.

        And they are the same Epstein files that Donald Trump is scared past his goldie locks everyone will see and come away shaking their heads over.

        But that does not mean, on its face, that Trump was involved in any illegal or nefarious activities that his pal Jeffrey was perpetrating.

And until there’s evidence to the contrary, then that’s just where that ball lays. We can’t prove it, so, based on circumstantial evidence, we can only assume, or suspect. But we can’t flat out say it.

So then, why in the ham sandwich is that same Donald John Trump now acting so guilty about something he has repeatedly labeled “a hoax” perpetrated by the Democrats and the media?

The Mad King of Corrupt-a-Lago is certainly acting guilty about something, especially since folks on both sides of the political aisle started demanding release of the Epstein files, and Congress gave us a taste last week by releasing 23,000 emails from the Epstein estate, many with Trump’s name featured prominently in them.

Maybe he’s acting guilty because he knows all it takes is some enterprising investigative reporter to actually find the evidence a lot of folks have already set the table for.

I mean, c’mon. Most of what Trump has gotten himself in big trouble for in the past has been sexual in nature.

For example, the Access Hollywood tapes, where we actually heard Trump shamelessly bragging about grabbing young women by their genitals. Gee, please correct me if I'm wrong, but that’s criminal behavior in most states. Apparently that was acceptable conduct in the circles Trump hung with back in the day.

He was successfully sued for sexually assaulting writer E. Jean Carroll (who, by the way, according to Wikipedia, “In 2020 and 2021, for The Atlantic,....wrote a series of articles that profiled several of the 25 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct), and was convicted of 34 felonies in New York for paying hush money to a porn star he had an affair with to protect his 2016 presidential campaign.

Again, behavior Trump has been found guilty of in various courts of law. Behavior he’s vigorously denied, but according to the courts, had no problem indulging in when he was younger. Now this clown has the utter gall to call his pal, Epstein, a "sick pervert" who he kicked out of Mar-a-Lago (for the record, Epstein said in an email that he was never a member).

        Talk about the pot calling the frying pan black!

And what I find quite interesting about Trump bragging about grabbing young women  by the genitals, or sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll, or screwing a porn star while his wife, Melania, was pregnant with his son, Barron, and paying people to cover it up, is that in all of these cases, plus the cases we don’t know about, Trump never gave a damn about the victims.

        Only what they could do to him one day.

So yes, I fully understand why he’s shaking in his shoes to be eventually proven to have had anything to do with the criminally perverted activities of his ace boon buddy Epstein when it came to the sexual exploitation/molestation of female children.

Because Trump knows that Americans, especially MAGA, WILL NOT tolerate that bag of bricks if it’s ever proven. There’s no explaining THAT behavior. Not now, not in a million years.

And that’s why it doesn’t surprise me, or anyone else for that matter, that Trump would prefer to be on the other side of the world, than ever meet with Epstein’s victims - the children Epstein once sexually abused.

Mind you, when Trump ran for president last year, he was full of vim and vigor in front of his MAGA base about releasing the Epstein files. Hell, once he got into office, his Ice Barbie Attorney General Pam Bondi bragged on Fox News that she had the files “on my desk.” As president, Trump has always had the power to release ALL of the files. He released the MLK and JFK files, for instance, but not Epstein. 

When ten ton hints that there was incriminating stuff in those files about Trump was suspected, that comedy act hit a brick wall, didn’t it? And now, we’re in the midst of a coverup the likes of which  we haven’t seen since Watergate. This man even allowed use of the Situation Room in the White House to try to cajole several Republicans to take their names off of the House discharge petition sheet to force the vote.  Nice try, but no dice.

Sunday, realizing that he was going to lose and lose big, Trump switched strategies, changed his tune, and started pronouncing that he’s all for releasing the Epstein files. That told me, and everybody else on Planet Earth, he had something up his sleeve. After all, there is nothing he'd like better than for the media to forget about all of this, and pay more attention to the "great accomplishments" of his administration.

        Yeah, and I would like for Yogi and Boo-Boo to leave my damn picnic basket alone! In the real world, neither is going to happen any time soon!

Apparently, if the files are ever released, only the ones not included in the new Democrat-Epstein connection investigation will see the light of day. Boy, that gives Pam Bondi a wide berth to justify putting some convenient screws in the machinery.

         In fact, Bondi held a presser Wednesday after the bill's psssage saying, "There's information, new information, additional information...we will continue to follow the law to investigate any leads." 

           The stall is well underway, folks.

         So anything involving Bill Clinton, former Treasury Sec. Larry Summers and… oh wow, Donald Trump, could be held back because they’re part of an "active" investigation into Democrats.

People forget, way back in the 1990s as a prominent New York City business tycoon, Trump was a Democrat who hung out with the likes of Bill and Hillary, and gave money to them too. If you're going to investigate Democrats of the time, you have to investigate Trump.

        Assuming you're doing a real investigation!

The House had forced the issue with a near unanimous 427-1 discharge petition vote Tuesday to release the files featuring Republican “jail break” support, after Speaker Johnson did all he could to delay the inevitable. Republican senators followed suit that same day with a unanimous consent vote joined by Democrats in the Senate, sending the new law to Trump.

        He signed it into law Wednesday night, but as indicated, this may not be over yet.

My point here is that, just like now, when Trump was younger, he cared about no one but himself. He felt it was his right to do anything he wanted, to whomever he wanted, and was entitled to get away with it, whether it was not paying construction people who worked for him; or stiffing “suckers and losers” with scams like Trump steaks or the legendary Trump University; or as documented earlier, young women.

Trump knows how far he went with Epstein, and apparently is deathly afraid that his old buddy is going to reach up from the grave, and crush everything Trump has either fraudulently built or successfully stolen.

And he’s scared stiff.

        Published reports have Mark Epstein, Jeffrey's brother, saying in an interview that FBI Director Kash Patel is having the Epstein files scrubbed of any negative references to Trump at a facility in Virginia. Mark Epstein added that his late brother, who died reportedly by suicide in his jail cell awaiting another trial in 2019, definitely had "dirt" on Trump. 

        Wouldn't surprise me at all. Bondi and Patel worship the marbled ground Trump drags his gold-plated tail on, so protecting him at all costs is something I can see being a top agenda item for them.

But you know what? This shouldn’t be about Trump. It should be about the young victims of Jeffrey Epstein who were raped and abused by him and his billionaire friends from all over the world, now all grown-up. These are courageous heroes now, standing strong for years, finally successfully demanding that Congress secure justice for them. 

         None have implicated our coward of a president in any of their torture. And yet, they’re asking the same questions everyone else is.

"Why won’t you stand with us?" "Why would you use us just to get elected?" "What are you hiding?" "Show some leadership!""You have been a national embarrassment!"

        These women will ALWAYS deserve our support and respect.

Whatever it is, it is keeping Trump up at night, trying to come up with ways to distract from us finding the truth. Trying to deflect critical attention elsewhere. Who knows, maybe the deep, dark secret about Trump in the Epstein files has nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with corruption, some illegal scam he can still be held accountable for that Epstein held over his head.

When a corrupt man gets this nervous, it’s like the story of the tell-tale heart.

Trump knows it’s just a matter of time before the world finds out why he's so nervous about the Epstein files. 

        And he won’t be able to talk his way out of this one when we do.

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