President Trump posted to Truth Social that those asking for the release of documents related to the Epstein files were "radical left lunatics." READ MORE:

With the twin pressures of summer temperatures and the Jeffrey Epstein controversy keeping things hot in the nation's Capitol, House Speaker Mike Johnson is apparently hoping things cool down by September.

Divisions inside the Republican Party over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation boiled over on Capitol Hill. Speaker Mike Johnson said the House won't take action before leaving town for the August recess at the end of the week.

As a general rule, coverups are difficult in free societies with democratic governments. They are routine for authoritarian governments. The Epstein coverup will be an indicator of how far we are down the road to authoritarianism. The success of such a coverup would take us much further down that road.

An unreasonable movement, it turns out, cannot easily be reasoned with.” (On the subject of that Trump-Fox interview before the election, a quick detour: Fox has recently been scrutinized for airing an abbreviated version of Trump’s answer in which it edited out the caveats and made him sound keener on releasing the Epstein files than he actually was.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join John Yang to discuss the week in politics, including the MAGA debate over releasing the Epstein files intensifies and congressional Republicans deliver Trump a win by clawing back $9 billion in foreign aid and public media funding.

An ongoing furor around the government’s investigation of the disgraced financier has done more than fracture President Donald Trump’s base. It has also injected a volatile new element into midterm elections and created an opening for Democrats scrambling to exploit any perceived Republican weakness as they work to retake the House.

Trump was annoyed by the constant questions from reporters—had Bondi told him that his name, in fact, was in the Epstein files? (“No,” came his response)—and frustrated by his inability to redirect the nation’s attention to what he views as his successes,