The E-Files: A bill to release the Epstein files heads to President Donald Trump’s desk today. He’s said he’ll sign it (hell, he campaigned on that). Expect the files. Unless Trump is chicken. The House vote was 427-1. The Senate vote was unanimous, with no debate.
holy shit mike johnson is SHOOK on Epstein vote in Senate
— Adam Parkhomenko (@adamparkhomenko.bsky.social) November 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
The Loneliest Boy in the House: Far-right Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) is the “1” special guy who did not vote to release the Epstein files. Higgins said the bill would toss thousands of innocent people—“witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc”—into the maw of the “rabid” media. He indicated that he’d vote for an amended bill that protected the privacy of those “named but not criminally implicated.” But hours later, the Senate unanimously passed the measure.
Creep Creeps Out: After showing up all over the E-files as Epstein’s wingman, Larry Summers is stepping down from most of his public roles. Most recently, he announced he’s stepping down from OpenAI’s board. For now, though, he’s still a teacher at Harvard University, the one role where he’s most likely to interact with young women he has power over. Cool.
Sore Loser? After losing her council seat to Dionne Foster, City Council President Sara Nelson will introduce a bill to restrict City Hall access for political consultants and require them to register with the city, similar to lobbyists. For his entire term, Mayor Bruce Harrell created an unusual role for his political consultant, Christian Sinderman, in the city government—a situation that no one could say was illegal, but everyone called highly “unusual.” Nelson’s opponent, Dionne Foster, also worked with Sinderman, and Nelson said she wasn’t able to have open conversations with Harrell because she worried whatever she said could be used against her in Foster’s campaign. Sinderman said the bill is just an attempt at revenge.
As anyone who rides Link in South Seattle well knows, the gap between Columbia City Station and Othello Station, and between Rainier Station and Tukwila International Boulevard, are very long. The plan has been, for years, to fill the first gap with a station at Graham Street, and the second gap with a station at Boeing Access Road. That plan, which saw the completion of both projects in the distant year of 2031, is now on the chopping block due to, as Ryan Packer of the Urbanist reports, “escalating costs.” This is truly bad news because these areas, and particularly the one at Graham Street, are dense. It was bad enough that the stations were far in the future, now they may have no future at all.
Sure enough, the right-leaning MyNorthwest is outraged that the social cost of plastic bags will be partially paid for by a 4-cent increase on January 1, 2026 (the present charge is 8 cents). True, this cost should be paid by those who make the most money from this environmental menace, but they will not. All they want is just the profits and none of the real costs. As a consequence, we the people have to pay for a socialism that only the top earners enjoy.
Cleaning House: King County Exec-Elect Girmay Zahilay is reportedly cleaning house. His transition team said that they plan to completely restructure the county’s executive branch, which means about 100 people who are currently serving in appointed positions are losing their jobs. Some of them will be invited to reapply for their jobs—a time-honored tradition for staff morale.
Fascists Did Fascism: The Washington Secretary of State joined 10 others in a letter to tell the Trump administration about their “immense concern” that the voter rolls they provided to the federal government weren’t just used to check for voter fraud. They were used to try to scrub “illegal aliens” from the rolls. Let this be a lesson to all local governments to not give the feds any information that we don’t have to. Looking at you, City Council.
A Quick Distraction: Have you ever wanted to know if you’re smarter than an eighth grader from 1889? Well, now you can.
Budget Blues in Olympia: Woooooof. Washington’s projected revenue through 2029 is a bit lower than expected. It’s $66 million short of the last revenue estimate. While that’s only a modest hit in the grand scheme of state budgets, it compounds with previous shortfalls to make an even tighter budget ahead of lawmakers’ upcoming 2026 session. With $66 million less to play with, lawmakers may need to reconsider funding priorities and they really should explore new funding sources. Someone tell Gov. Bob Ferguson that we’re all jonesing for an income tax.
Like the Deadliest Catch, Except Happy: At around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, a fishing boat called the Abby C. radioed the coast guard for help. Their ship was sinking in frigid Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of Westport, Washington. This is not a good thing for ships to do. Nearby crabbing vessel, Lady Nancy, heard the call and made a beeline to Abby C. After searching the area for 20 minutes, the Lady Nancy crew spotted four men in the water. Two were in an orange life raft, two others clung to a survival suit for dear life. They all had hypothermia. One man sunk below the water and a Lady Nancy crew member dove in to save him. Everyone lived!
You Can Go to SAM for Free: If you bring two non-perishable food items to the Seattle Art Museum on any Wednesday through December 17, you can get free admission into the museum. Go see the Tariqa Waters exhibit!
Today and every Wednesday through Dec. 17, get free admission to the Seattle Art Museum with a donation of at least two non-perishable canned food items, supporting the Pike Market Senior Center and Food Bank. Details below:
— Joe Veyera (@joeveyera.bsky.social) November 19, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Don’t Forget—the World Is Burning: Amidst all the horrors living under authoritarian hell, we’ve forgotten a different threat to humanity. Climate change is not joking around, and don’t get it twisted, Trump’s “America First” agenda is making it worse. Those policies double down on fossil fuels and do away with efforts to cut emissions. People will die from this. According to ProPublica and The Guardian, “extra greenhouse gases released in the next decade as a result of the president’s policies are expected to lead to as many as 1.3 million more temperature-related deaths worldwide as the earth heats in the 80 years after 2035.” This analysis comes as most countries gather at a conference in Brazil to discuss the threat of climate change. The US is not there.
On the Weather: Patchy fog before 11 am. The chance of rain tonight is a 50/50 coin flip. Can you bet on this?
Blue Moon Rising: A new poll from NPR, PBS News, and Marist found that Democrats are looking good ahead of next year’s midterm elections. The survey of 1,443 adults found that most would vote blue if the elections were held today. Trump’s approval rating sat at 39 percent, his lowest since the aftermath of January 6.
Government Lapses in Comey Indictment: Look, we are no law experts over here, but this seems like a pretty flagrant bad practice in the James Comey case. The Trump-appointed US Attorney who brought charges against former FBI Director Comey told a judge that the full grand jury had never seen the final indictment, so the charges against Comey on the docket currently were not reviewed.
MORE: Under questioning by the judge, prosecutor Tyler Lemons said that he’s under orders from the Deputy Attorney Generals’s office not to disclose whether there is a declination memo recommending against the prosecution of Comey
— Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) November 19, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Operation Creep: Minnesota police arrested 16 men in a minor sex trafficking investigation known as “Operation Creep.” One of the arrested men was an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officer. “When he was arrested, he said, ‘I’m ICE, boys,'” Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said, according to Newsweek. “Well, unfortunately for him, we locked him up.” Okay, no more child porn stuff, I promise. Unless there’s another blurb about the Epstein Files…?
How Could This Have Happened? Detainees at ICE’s Broadview Detention Center in suburban Chicago filed a class action lawsuit, alleging terrible treatment. The suit outlines inhumane conditions, such as detainees being forced to sleep on plastic chairs or concrete floors, not receiving adequate food or water, living in squalid conditions, and being abused by ICE officers. In the discovery phase, the plaintiffs’ lawyer requested security footage from the facility starting in mid-September. Conveniently, the Department of Homeland Security said two weeks of footage from October 19 through October 31 has been irretrievably destroyed.
An Unfortunate Reality for Them: Vancouver indie-rock band the New Pornographers debated changing their name after their drummer, Joe Seiders, was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography earlier this year. After “time passed,” the band decided they would keep the name. Granted, they have been around since 1997, and that drummer only joined in 2014. Optics, shmoptics.
I just want to highlight my favorite comment from yesterday. It’s from jexpat @38:
Wow, this place certainly has turned into a haven for bigots, xenophobes and Israeli influnce peddlers.
Maybe it’s time for the comment section to go the way of the Portland Mercury before it turns into the cesspit at Willamette Week.
https://www.thestranger.com/slog-am/2025/11/18/80332163/slog-am-bear-gulch-fire-contained-un-approves-us-plan-for-gaza-most-detainees-in-chicago-ice-blitz-had-no-criminal-record/comments/38
cressona dear, I’ve reached my sole life goal of having 10,000 slog posts, so I would be fine with that.
@1: Or you could have started us off with the right tone by commenting on one of the news items.
“Congrats! You’d be smart at any point in American history!”
Thanks for the affirmation, New York Magazine! 😂 But before anyone lets their smarter-than-an-eighth-grader-from-1899 score go to their head, try my favorite of these 19th century scholastics tests, the Harvard entrance exam of 1869! 😄
Section 1: Translate into Latin.
Section 2: Latin Grammar.
Section 3 (and this where thumpus goes off the rails): Greek Grammar. 🤣🤣🤣
@2: Imagine if we tucked away $1.00 for every Slog moment!
btw, I saw the Mayor-Elect in the tower yesterday. She was in a very nice black suit, and looked quite chic. I was impressed.
We are not jonesing for an income tax. Most of us are jonesing for lower state spending.
5 – I’m jealous. I wish my apprehensions were placated by mere fashion choices. Superficial libs just go with the flow.
@7 you missed an opportunity to clarify for everyone that the arrested ICE officer was just a hebephile so no big deal
8 – huh?
@6 came to say this. Budget the money you have vs. going looking for a way to take more from your citizens. I’d LOVE to sit down with a copy of the state budget and have each department head explain where all of their money is going and what the actual benefit is to us.
“True,
this cost should
be paid by those who
make the most money from this
environmental menace, but they will not.
All
they
want is
just the profits
and none of the real costs.
As a consequence, we
the people have to pay for a
socialism that only the top earners enjoy.”*
–@thee Fucking STRANGER
“Fucking BRAVISSIMO!” I say.
now, give me
a Moment to ALL
CAPS THIS For the
Gleefully Willfully and
JOYFULLY fucking Uniformed
oh, and the Anti-“SOCIALISM!”
Lying, Cunning Propagan-
dists and Profiteers.
brb!
(save me a Spot!)
@10 the budget adds $100 million intended for local departments to hire more cops. Cutting that would more than make up for the revenue shortfall. Boom problem solved
re
ditching
tS’s commentariat
there are
not infrequently
Gems that appear on
these very Pages by some
of tS’s commentariat. To eliminate
them, because of a reich-wing Infestation
would be a Sorry Loss for
Readers of tS and for,
Arguably, the
Citizenry at
Large.
take for instance
this recent Gem addres-
sing a serious Problem tS’s
been Inflicted with for YEARS:
“I’m just stating
what I think is an
overwhelming moral
and practical case against
the particular choices [thedjt]’s made.
If you support those choices
and want to defend them convincingly,
then you have to make a case for them on their merits.
By demanding instead
that Trump’s critics pledge allegiance
to a patently unrealistic ideal and declaring victory when
they refuse, you’re essentially just creating and destroying a straw man.”
–@CKathes on November 18, 2025 at 7:59 PM
elegant
succinct
Factual as fuck,
& gracefully delivered.
an admittedly
minuscule sampling;
go to her comment history*
for Oodles more; and, speaking of
Gems: https://www.thestranger.com/users/1500457/catalinavelduray/comments
but Again, to shut it down
because of a few Bad Faith
actors’d be a Major mistake
*https://www.thestranger.com/users/1500457/catalinavelduray
perhaps a minimal pay wall
like over @ substack may
be in order – Especially
if there were an Edit
Delete button.
sign me up.
@13 — oh
and the formatting
of CKathes’ comment?
All mine.
@1 Some people will always be thrilled at the idea of censorship in order to combat the ever-present threat and scourge of opinions that differ from theirs.
@13: No edit or delete buttons as people should reap the consequences of the nasty, cringing, and embarrassing things they publish. People should calm down and think it over before clicking ‘Post Comment’. My God.
Most people also understand that bigot/racist/xenophobe are just labels Democrats use now to signal that they believe the target is acceptable to be murdered or assassinated
I just can’t get excited about the presumably-anti-Sinderman policy change re: political consultants’ access to City Hall. Either people are political consultants or they’re paid by the city, and the twain shouldn’t meet. It’s a natural result of Sinderman and Harrell blurring the line between those roles.
Fascinating that Nelson didn’t trust Harrell not to blab whatever she had to say to Sinderman, knowing that Sinderman was working for Foster. That seems like the real trust issue there.
@15 & 17
Excellent points!
had we an Edit button I could Fix my
“reich-wing Infestation”
to “Bad Faith Commentators
trolling solely for
Trolling’s
Sake.”
@17 I didn’t think thumpus using multiple crying-laughing emojis to express his feelings about Arab children being bombed would ever be topped, but there it is: the most unhinged comment ever on SLOG. “bigot/racist/xenophobe are just labels Democrats use now to signal that they believe the target is acceptable to be murdered.” Wow.
@20
and why Not? when the
gloves’re Off Nothing’s
outta Bounds
@20: What about when you described Hamas’s videotaped beheading of a wounded hostage as an act of Palestinian self-defense? 😂 I still laugh about that one, it was such a great example of progressive thought! 😝
@22 I still can’t tell whether you realize I was mocking you claiming bombing hospitals was Israeli self defense but glad you got a laugh out of it either way
@20. I will let Thumpus speak for himself, but I doubt he was rejoicing over the explicit bombing of civilians. Perhaps you were misinterpreting his rejoice in Israel’s victory over Hamas and it’s patrons, which I would hope you share as well.
But I can’t shake the conviction that there a great multitude of people OUTSIDE the conflict zone which Hamas tailored this entire tragedy around – people who would immediately jump to the Palestinian cause once the IDF began throwing lead, people whose initial emotional reaction would trump any understanding of either the conflict as a whole, or at least understanding the cynical strategy Hamas pursued. In short, if we can imagine a population NOT so naive than we can also imagine Hamas never even contemplating inviting their fellow Gazans to bleed for international sympathy. I’ll have no part in that. But if you carry on in that manner then YOU will surely invite a repeat performance. Hamas is the the macabre thespian, you are the gullible audience.
500 miles of tunnels, zero civilian bomb shelters. If not jejune foreign observers, at least everyday Gazans ought to know now how criminally exploited they were and rise up against them.
@13 Thanks for the compliment although I thought that comment (like my others yesterday) was a bit verbose even for me. It’s not one of my favorites. By the way, my preferred pronouns are he/they, though I don’t object to she/her. (Hell, I’m even fine with “jones,” seeing as how I’m jonesing for an income tax.)
And if any changes are to be made to the comment section, perhaps one could be fixing the busted avatar upload system? How long has it been now? One of the shoddiest remnants of the Rich Smith era…
@25: So you’re non-binary just part of the time?
@26: I don’t think they want to. Too much overhead and maintenance of old Javascript probably.
nekrasova @15 @17 @26, excellent comments. I think you’ve just made a compelling case for why The Stranger’s comment threads should be shut down for good. My message to The Stranger’s new publisher on comments: “Shut it down, baby, shut it down.”
BTW, to be honest, my real disappointment about yesterday’s comment thread wasn’t so much about the usual suspects who were engaging in their usual virtual tagging. It was that you hadn’t joined in. I so look forward to your comments as a way to get the latest MAGA spin on the Epstein files saga.
Speaking of which, any idea why Trump didn’t bother to release the files by edict without needing veto-proof legislation from Congress? My best guess is that he wasn’t sure he was allowed to, what with his very timid view of executive power.
@23: No it was a really great comment, I actually cite your example IRL when I have to explain the differences between a liberal and a progressive. 😁
The distinctive point was that you couldn’t perceive a moral difference between Israel attacking a hospital that Hamas was unlawfully using for military purposes, versus Hamas filming themselves sawing off the head of a wounded civilian whom they had captured for use as a hostage. Like, you really thought the beheading thing was a snappy rebuttal to the hospital thing, it was just such a perfect illustration of progressive delusion! 🤣🤣🤣
@30 “I actually cite your example IRL”
So do I qualify for some type of troll of the year award now or what
Where would you cut state spending, Swiftress dear? If you were to ask me, the only people who should be opposed to a state income tax are the parasitical wealthy, for that would mean they’d have to pay their share.
A properly implemented income tax might even lower housing costs, if we got enough wealthy people to leave the state and dissuaded new ones from coming here.
@24 you should contact the UN and ICJ, amongst numerous other NGOs and governments, to offer your services as a Conflict Understander to replace the “people whose initial emotional reaction would trump any understanding” they all apparently employ currently.
Since you brought up ICE (ignored by Slog since it doesn’t fit the “progressive narrative”):
9 indicted in connection with July ambush of North Texas ICE facility, officials say:
November 15, 2025
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/9-indicted-july-ambush-alvarado-north-texas-ice-facility/287-158412ea-7efb-44c0-87bd-a838835365f9
5 plead guilty to charges in connection with July ambush of North Texas ICE facility:
November 19, 2025
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/5-plead-guilty-july-ambush-alvarado-north-texas-ice-facility/287-17249a54-8437-41fc-98e6-d5e85a180da5
Remember kids, “progressive” means “stupid and naive”.
@31: No, your joke perfectly illustrated your ignorance, that’s what made it so great. The punchline wasn’t quite what you thought it was, though! 🤣
@33: “contact the UN and ICJ, amongst numerous other NGOs and governments, to offer your services as a Conflict Understander”
Sigh, once again with the international law mixups. 😅 The UN and the ICJ are not NGOs and they are also not governments. They are intergovernmental organizations.
You continue to excel in your role as Conflict Misunderstander, but unfortunately there is no call for services of that nature! 😂
@32: “A properly implemented income tax might even lower housing costs,”
better as:
A properly implemented income tax might even lower property taxes.
Right?
@32 That’s what we pay our legislators to figure out. Make do with the money you collect now. No income tax. No excise tax. No compromise.
@36 aw geez you got me please don’t tell people about this IRL
Coolidge dear, a properly implemented income tax WOULD lower property taxes. And that, in turn, would lower housing costs.
Please make a note of it.
@CKathes — apologies for misgendering you,
glad you straightened me out! I find your
comments refreshingly accurate and
your ability to stick to the subject’
regardless of personal attacks
emulatable — I’ve Miles to
go but who Knows?
thanks for your comment
and, for all of them.
Keep on Jonesin’!
PBS lameo libprog version:
5 plead guilty to terrorism-related charges tied to antifa after Texas shooting
Nov 19, 2025
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/5-plead-guilty-to-terrorism-related-charges-tied-to-antifa-after-texas-shooting
@39: Ha ha, don’t worry I won’t mention it! Your @33 is merely an example of a progressive failing to understand what a “government” is. 😁 It’s lol-worthy but not noteworthy. 😆 (Especially on a day when Slog feeds us a test to see if you are smarter than an eighth grader from 1899, ha ha ha)
Your earlier mistake between lawful war and unlawful terrorism was much more emblematic of the progressive movement as a whole, which is why I use it irl as an example of problems in contemporary progressive thought. 😘
@29 I suspect the game plan is for Trump to keep up his risible claim that he has nothing to hide and wants full transparency, while A.G. Bondi keeps the files (or at least the most embarrassing ones) under wraps by launching new “investigations” into one or more of the various Democrats whose names appear within. She’ll of course claim those “investigations” would be compromised by releasing the files. While this would contradict Bondi’s infamous memo stating no further inquiry into Epstein was warranted, she’s now hinting about “new information” that presumably could allow her to claim the circumstances have changed. Something like that.
@23: “…I was mocking you claiming bombing hospitals was Israeli self defense…”
Of course you were. You know of absolutely no evidence of any kind whatsoever to show Hamas hid in hospitals as it fought Isra–
“Heavily armed Hamas fighters seized the Jordanian Field Hospital complex in Gaza City last weekend after a gunbattle with a rival Palestinian group, re-establishing their control over what residents and Israel’s military said had long been a redoubt for the Islamist militants.”
“Heavily armed Hamas fighters” were literally walking around, openly and publicly killing Palestinians, and the locals still told the Wall Street Journal’s reporters that Hamas had long used the Jordanian Field Hospital complex in Gaza City as a “redoubt” (‘fortified place of refuge for soldiers,’ for those of you unfamiliar with military stuff) during their war with the IDF.
(https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-gaza-israel-withdrawal-33d69b55?mod=hp_lead_pos7)
Please, do continue mocking the idea that hospitals were a legitimate target for the IDF in Gaza. You really should take every chance you can possibly get to show readers here just how much you ever really did know about the recently-ended conflict there.
Hamas is
no Longer an
Existential Threat
to Israel. that does
Not bother Israel who
will bomb Gaza (and Continue
Stealing Homes from Palestine’s West Bank)
until the Last Hamas has been Extinguished
and if there are No Longer any Gazans
or West Bankers Israel will Continue
to Claim ‘their hands were tied.’
and the World sinks
ever further and
Farther into
the fucking
Abyss, led
in Large
part by
Israel
and all so One man
can keep outta
Prison?
@45: Oh he’s always known. I sent him ISR footage of Hamas firing from the windows of a hospital in Gaza. 😛
Everyone’s always known. That’s why the UN Security Council has ordered Hamas to lay down its weapons but has not ordered Israel to lay down its weapons. 😁
Even the State of Palestine is onboard. But western progressives gotta be more Palestinian than the Palestinians! 🤣 After all, they’re not the ones dying for Hamas qital fi sabilillah. 😛
Israeli forces raid Palestinian towns in occupied West Bank
Israeli troops have carried out two raids in the occupied West Bank, targeting the village of al-Lubban Asharqiya south of Nablus and the town of Hizma northeast of Jerusalem, the Wafa news agency reports.
In al-Lubban Asharqiya, residents said soldiers opened fire
at a Palestinian vehicle and threw stun grenades in front
of several shops in the village.
In Hizma, the Jerusalem governorate said
Israeli forces stormed the town and fired live ammunition, s
tun grenades and tear gas canisters extensively. No injuries were reported.
Such raids
have become an
almost daily occurrence
across the West Bank, where
Israeli forces routinely carry out arrest
campaigns and incursions into Palestinian towns and villages.
[b]:
a recap of today’s main events:
Israeli air strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis
have killed at least 28 Palestinians, including
women and children, and injured 77.
Hamas says it marks a
“serious escalation”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/11/19/live-13-killed-in-israeli-air-attack-on-refugee-camp-in-lebanon
Hamas is no longer
an Existential
Threat to
Israel
but
One
would
Never know it
ANTIFA is a philosophy, not an organization. Should we be in the business of policing thoughts?
ICE, on the other hand, is a governmental organization, seemingly comprised of criminals and perverts. We very much should be in the business of policing evil actions.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/hundreds-of-immigrants-have-reported-sexual-abuse-at-ice-facilities-most-cases-arent-investigated