Surprise, surprise: President Donald Trump was in Jeffrey Epstein’s contact list.

Buried in the massive trove of documents released by the Department of Justice Friday was Epstein’s 90-page contact book filled with names of high-profile celebrities—including Donald Trump and his family members.

Contact information for “Trump, Donald,” now redacted, was kept separately from the information on how to reach Trump’s daughter Ivanka, his ex-wife Ivana, his brother Robert, and Robert’s wife, Blaine.

A handwritten note indicated the contact book was from Palm Beach, dated 2004–2005.

There also appeared to be contact information for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where Epstein reportedly scouted young women to abuse and traffic, and from where he was supposedly banned in October 2007.

In an extensive list of hotels, there seem to be no listings between the Four Seasons Restaurant and Myers of Westwick—a sizable chunk of the alphabet that possibly could indicate a missing page.

Trump reportedly recounted his sexual conquests to Epstein over the phone, while the alleged sex trafficker invited others to listenin.

Republican Representative and MAGA hard-liner Elise Stefanik announced Friday that she will be dropping out of the New York gubernatorial race. While the move is surprising given that Stefanik was once one of the GOP’s rising stars, it comes after a series of snubs from President Trump. 

“While spending precious time with my family this Christmas season, I have made the decision to suspend my campaign for Governor and will not seek re-election to Congress. I did not come to this decision lightly for our family,” she wrote Friday on X. “I am truly humbled and grateful for the historic and overwhelming support from Republicans, Conservatives, Independents, and Democrats all across the state for our campaign to Save New York.”   

While Stefanik noted that she could have “overwhelmingly” won her primary, she mused that the political timing was not right for a run—and that she wanted to focus on raising her young son. 

“I am incredibly grateful to the people of New York’s 21st District for entrusting me to represent you in the United States Congress. Thank you to my dedicated staff over the past decade. I am proud of the significant results that we successfully delivered for the hardworking families in our district and across America. It has been a tremendous professional honor to serve as your Congresswoman over the past eleven years,” she continued.

Trump had notably declined to endorse Stefanik in the race, despite her being an absolute loyalist to him since 2016. When fellow Republican Bruce Blakeman, whom Trump had previously endorsed in his race for county executive, entered the race, Stefanik’s Trump endorsement went out the window. (Trump still has not endorsed someone in the race.)

“Thank you for your support and encouragement as my family and I look forward to the next meaningful personal and professional chapter,” Stefanik concluded

“LMAO. Imagine if Stefanik hadn’t code switched from a relatable ‘Every Mom’ moderate to frothing MAGA shitposter ... she might’ve become a real stateswoman,” Migrant Insider’s Pablo Manríquez wrote. “I guess we’ll never know.”

This story has been updated. 

The Department of Justice finally released its first trove of files on Jeffrey Epstein Friday afternoon—with a broken search tool.

The files have been divided into court records, DOJ disclosures, Freedom of Information Act, and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Disclosures. There is also a search bar that includes a disclaimer: “Due to technical limitations and the format of certain materials (e.g., handwritten text), portions of these documents may not be electronically searchable or may produce unreliable search results.”

The government was legally required to release all the files Friday, but took their time, and ultimately only released a partial batch. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche pledged to release more files in the coming weeks in an interview on Fox News Friday morning.

Many of the released files are redacted nearly in full.

In a statement after the files’ release, the White House absurdly claimed, “The Trump Administration is the most transparent in history.”

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson continued:

By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have. And while President Trump is delivering on his promises, Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Stacey Paskett have yet to explain why they were soliciting money and meeting from Epstein after he was a convicted sex offender. The American people deserve answers.

That statement ignores the fact that Republicans in Congress, led by House Speaker MIke Johnson, delayed and stalled on releasing the files for months. Johnson used a government shutdown to delay the swearing-in of Democratic Representative Adelita Grijalva, who was the decisive vote in a discharge petition to force the files’ release. Every Democrat signed the petition, but only four Republicans did: Representatives Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Nancy Mace.

Trump still refuses to acknowledge his close relationship with Epstein, and flip-flopped on the files only after he realized popular (and Republican) opinion was strongly in favor of the government making them public. Friday’s release is the first peek into what the Trump administration is willing to tell the public about what the government knows about Epstein, and a lot of it was information people already knew. Legally, though,........

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