Fridays with Nicole Sandler

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31 replies
  1. Chirrut Imwe says:

    Hi Dr. Wheeler,

    Can you define what I believe you were referring to as ‘on bank’ (in reference to the 9th circuit)?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • RipNoLonger says:

      I ain’t no lawyer and haven’t even listened (yet) to this podcast. My guess is the phrase is “en banc” which to quote our still existent resource (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_banc) means ” In law, an en banc session is when all the judges of a court sit to hear a case, not just one judge or a smaller panel of judges.”

      I’ve learned more about law, especially as applies at the federal level, from this wonderful site (EmptyWheel). Unfortunately, I’ve learned way too much law at the civil level from small-town lawyers etc.

      Reply
      • Rugger_9 says:

        In the Portland hearings, the DoJ attorneys kept trying to introduce documents into evidence that their own witness denied seeing before. That means no foundation to admit the exhibits. The DoJ also tried to object to defense exhibits they previously stipulated as factual which Judge Immergut overruled with a pointed comment.

        Only the best people remains this administration’s epitaph and it’s about the only thing that will save us, this time.

        Reply
      • gruntfuttock says:

        ‘Flood the zone’ plus the appellate void. It seems like a gift to the fascists but the American population at large is not going to just bow down; that wasn’t how the nation was built: the ones that know their history can see where this is going; the ones that voted for Trump are about to see how he’ll destroy their lives.

        Unless Donald can work out a way to keep the government shut indefinitely (which he really doesn’t want to do), he’s going to have to deal with the Epstein stuff.

        He can’t be very happy seeing what happened to the Andrew formerly known as Prince.

        Reply
  4. RipNoLonger says:

    I hope I don’t appear to be taking advantage of a large blank space in these comments, but I also wanted to touch on Marcy’s comments about how trump is trying to get his message out on social media. She mentions several times the xitter or that “truth” thingee.

    My sense is that the trump message is very adequately conveyed by the traditional sources such as Fox. Amplifying this is the sometimes subtle wording from the NYT and WaPo. But I think one of the biggest assists to his anti-Democrat messaging comes from CNN. Their coverage may appear a bit less biased but their messaging is strongly critical of anything democratic.

    Reply
  5. xyxyxyxy says:

    Following Epstein’s Money
    EXPLOSIVE NEW investigation: We uncovered previously undisclosed details about an 18-month money laundering investigation into Jeffrey Epstein that took place alongside the 2007 federal sex crimes probe, according to emails & docs
    @business obtained from Epstein’s personal Yahoo account & source familiar
    https://x.com/JasonLeopold/status/1984245354410480089
    and the article https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-jeffrey-epstein-emails-money-laundering-charges

    Reply
  6. zscoreUSA says:

    I’m not sure what Nicole was referring to about Epstein updates throwing the White House into a tizzy.

    But as Emptywheel says, it may be Jason Leopold’s reporting on Epstein’s emails which points to a money laundering investigation from February 2007, for 18 months, until Epstein plead guilty in the state court, and conflicting with Alex Acosta’s recent testimony. Emails also demonstrate Epstein’s continued relationship with Bear Stearns. There was also reporting by NY Times (David Ehrich) about court records they received that are unsealed.

    There were also more leaked/hacked emails between Ehud Barak and Epstein, including a large role in helping Israel back channel with Russia. Reported by Drop Site News.

    The Virginia Giuffre autobiography is out as well, and contains a few new details, including that Virginia’s dad was paid off by Epstein in roughly 2000. A large source of the discussion about the book has been the graphic details of a “former Prime Minister” who violently abused her, who is most likely Ehud Barak.

    Virginia’s book is really, really, really, an inspiring read, and worth reading.

    Articles:
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-10-31/jeffrey-epstein-was-subject-of-money-laundering-probe

    https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-jeffrey-epstein-emails-money-laundering-charges/
    (Jason Leopold’s and David Ehrich’s twitter accounts have gift articles for the pay wall)

    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/business/jpmorgan-jeffrey-epstein.html

    https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-ehud-barak-putin-israel-russia-syria-war-depose-assad

    Reply
    • RitaRita says:

      Thanks for the links.

      The “dropsitenews” linked article and the Bloomberg article containing the Epstein’s whiny email are eye openers. For different reasons. After reading the dropsitenews article, my impression about Epstein was that his power was derived, in part, from his connections. “It’s not what you know but who you know”. Speculation about whether Epstein was a Mossad agent seems irrelevant. He was acting on behalf of his friend and client, Barak, and by extension, Israel. And he wasn’t really providing impressive insights.

      The email section quoted in the Bloomberg article is interesting. He says his legal defense team has told him that the feds allegations and investigations are unprecedented and that the Feds are pressuring the state to bring more charges and pay his victims. The email smacks of someone who thought that he had built a legally airtight operation only to find out one of the key elements (moving so much cash around) was flawed.

      No wonder the government doesn’t want to release the Epstein files.

      Reply
      • xyxyxyxy says:

        Is it really “the government doesn’t want to release the Epstein files” or is it Trump doesn’t want to release the Epstein files with allies in government being threatened to…?
        There have to be lots of money transfers between the two of them in the financial records reported on by the Bloomberg article.

        Reply
        • zscoreUSA says:

          Besides Trump, yes, the government doesn’t want to release the Epstein files.

          With all of sexual abuse and trafficking and money laundering and hundred million $ thefts already known, the full picture has to be an order of magnitude worse.

          Narativ has been tracking in a series called the Greatest Heist.

          There appears to be a Safari Club aspect between the Maxwells and Epstein and Bear Stearns and the arms trafficking and the offshore accounts, etc.

          This article highlights a couple of other entries in the infamous 2003 birthday book, which show Robert Maxwell’srelationship with Bear Stearns and crossing paths with Epstein earlier than previously known.

          https://www.narativ.org/p/the-greatest-heist-chapter-10-too

  7. Magnet48 says:

    I don’t know if anyone else had this problem but my video was on echo & I cannot deal with that with my poor hearing. I cry enough over being unable to understand what’s being said.

    Reply
  8. rosalind says:

    as the thread is a bit quiet, for those in need of a lift, search out the videos of Brandi Carlile performing last night on SNL. Two new songs, both referencing what is going on in our country and world, and both amazing. The first, “Church & State”, is a kick a$$ rocker that I will be putting on daily to keep my spirits up. The second, “Human”, is about all the feelz and keeping kindness towards others in mind.

    Reply
    • Verrückte Pferd says:

      I don’t know if this is allowed here, but Savage Librarian and others write text from old songs.
      But i wrote and recorded a whole song, singing for my freedom against fascism, called Amurkan Liars Dice.
      https:// soundcloud.com/global-village-idiots/ amurkan-liars-dice-demo (two extra spaces)
      Sample lyrics:
      pussy grabbing criminal grifter
      he’s in the white house now
      running riot, slashing civil protection
      cutting down the Tree of Life
      or…
      You sent her to her doom
      just because she had a womb

      i hope i haven’t broken protocol here, i’ve been learning from Marcy since Fire Dog Lake.
      But as a renown pioneer of windpower in the whole world, it’s my right to sing against this travesty of humanity.
      there is no AI invoked, it’s real musicians who forced me to sing.
      Onward!

      Reply
  9. harpie says:

    From the people at The Steady State:

    https://bsky.app/profile/steadystatevets.bsky.social/post/3m4nl4c3q4k2o
    November 2, 2025 at 8:06 AM

    Brennan points out the laptop story was a Russian influence operation, not that it was fabricated by Russia. The letter itself literally says “we do not know if the emails… are genuine.” The accuser repeatedly puts different words in Brennan’s mouth and then attacks the fabricated claim. [link]

    Links to a Mediaite article:
    WATCH: John Brennan Gets In Man’s Face Over Hunter Biden Laptop Letter
    Sean James Nov 1st, 2025, 9:47 pm

    I think Marcy last wrote about this topic here:

    Kash’s “lockbox in a vault…in a cyber place where no one can see or search these files”
    https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/22/kashs-lockbox-in-a-vault-in-a-cyber-place-where-no-one-can-see-or-search-these-files/
    October 22, 2025

    Reply

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