GOP Rickrolls People Looking for Epstein Files. You Read That Right.

The official social media account for the House Judiciary GOP rickrolled the Epstein files on Thursday.

On the heels of a political stunt in which the Trump administration gifted large binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase One” to a cadre of MAGA influencers, Republicans in office suddenly decided it would be kosher to use the abhorrent sex trafficking case to make a quick joke.

“#BREAKING: EPSTEIN FILES RELEASED,” the official X account for the House Judiciary GOP posted alongside a shortened URL that actually directed users to Rick Astley’s music video for “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

The disgusting gimmick appalled users on the social media platform, some of whom were shocked that the Republican Party would risk the American public’s cybersecurity by sending them down an unknown web address to access highly coveted, classified information.

“Sending the American people to a tiny url that redirects to an unknown destination is a great way to ensure trust in the cybersecurity domain,” posted one user.

For years, Jeffrey Epstein orchestrated a child sex trafficking ring in which he raped countless young girls and helped his wealthy and famous affiliates do the same. He allegedly killed himself in a jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019. Earlier this week, Attorney General Pam Bondi pledged to release the details of Epstein’s flight logs as well as a list of his connections to the public by Thursday, though that still has not happened.

“The ‘Epstein Files’ are something of a white whale for the QAnon wing of MAGA, as they believe that its release would reveal the villainous liberal cabal that secretly coordinates international child sex trafficking,” wrote The New Republic’s Malcolm Ferguson. “Many in the conspiracy community believe that Epstein’s death—and the botched release of this list—is part of a greater ‘deep state’ coverup.”

So the White House’s gag earlier in the day, unsurprisingly, ruffled feathers on the far right. After some MAGA talking heads—including DC Draino’s Rogan O’Handley, Libs of TikTok’s Chaya Raichik, Liz Wheeler, and Mike Cernovich—refused to share the contents of the binders after waltzing out of the executive office, others on the right were left screaming and scrambling online for actual details related to Epstein’s activities.

“THERE ARE NO EPSTEIN FILES!!!” Laura Loomer claimed on X. “THE BINDERS ARE PROPS. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE RIGHT WING PAID INFLUENCERS LIED TO ALL OF YOU TODAY! THEY ENGAGED IN DECEPTION TO RUN COVER FOR PEDOPHILES!!! THEY POSTED SELFIES WITH PROP BINDERS! LIARS AND DECEIVERS.”

Donald Trump awkwardly joked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer about hanging his country out to dry in a war against Russia, leaving the close U.S. ally speechless.

During a joint press conference Thursday, Starmer was describing the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom as “the greatest alliance for prosperity and security” that the world had ever seen.

“Whenever necessary, we’ve absolutely backed each other up—” Starmer said, before the president interjected.

“Could you take on Russia by yourselves?” Trump asked, turning to Starmer.

“Well, heh,” said Starmer laughing. Trump broke into a smile, laughing along with the press.

“Alright, one or two more,” Trump said, changing the subject.

Trump’s unsettling joke comes as the all-too-eager U.S. president and Russian President Vladimir Putin cozy up together, amid high-stakes negotiations to end Russia’s deadly invasion of Ukraine—showing just how willing the Trump administration is to throw its allies to the dogs at Moscow’s command.

Starmer’s visit led to several bumpy moments between the two world leaders. At one point, Trump hinted at a tense discussion between himself and Starmer. “You’ve been terrific in our discussions. You’re a very tough negotiator, however. I’m not sure I like that—but that’s OK,” Trump said.

At another point, when asked to respond to Trump’s comments about making Canada the fifty-first state, Starmer tried to reply, before being forcefully cut off by the president.

“You mentioned Canada. I think you’re trying to find a divide between us that doesn’t exist,” Starmer said. “We’re the closest of nations, and we had very good discussions today, but we didn’t—”

“That’s enough,” Trump interjected. “That’s enough. Thank you.”

Last month, Elon Musk set his sights on unseating Starmer, consulting with his right-wing allies to devise a strategy to oust the Labour Party’s leader.

The president of the United States begged a Fox News anchor to tell viewers that he’s doing a “good job.”

Shortly after the end of his first Cabinet meeting—which saw Elon Musk loom over a room of practically mum agency heads—Trump was caught on an Associated Press live feed suggesting to Fox & Friends host Lawrence Jones that the journalist tell America the meeting went off without a hitch.

“Lawrence! Look at Lawrence! This guy’s making a fortune! He never had it so good,” Trump shouted over the table shortly after the Wednesday meeting ended.

“Lawrence, say we did a great job, please. OK? Say it was unbelievable,” Trump added right before the AP’s feed cut off.

The embarrassing request echoed another major political flub from 2016, when Republican presidential primary candidate Jeb Bush pleaded with a crowd at one of his rallies to “please clap.”

Trump’s stunning appeal came after Jones used his time with the president to ask several vanilla questions, including which of his Cabinet members was his favorite, and whether the administration should fire all the generals involved in the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

“Well, that’s a great idea,” Trump said of the Afghanistan plan, before facing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “I’m not going to tell this man what to do, but I will say that if I had his place, I’d fire every single one of them.”

But the president’s plea to his favorite network comes on the heels of a flurry of attacks by his administration against the press at large. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the administration would take control of the White House press pool, hand-selecting which outlets are allowed access to the president and possibly replacing reporters from legacy publications with right-wing podcasters.

The White House Correspondents’ Association, which has handled press pool coverage since its founding in 1914, said that the decision “tears at the independence of a free press.”

And earlier this month, the Trump administration banned the Associated Press from accessing Air Force One and the Oval Office on the basis that the newswire chose to continue referring to the recently renamed “Gulf of America” as the “Gulf of Mexico” for its global audience.

The Trump administration’s plan to release files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein appears to have been nothing more than a poorly disguised public relations scheme that has the MAGA fringe infuriated.

On Thursday, a cadre of MAGA influencers—DC Draino’s Rogan O’Handley, Libs of TikTok’s Chaya Raichik, Liz Wheeler, and Mike Cernovich—marched out of the White House smiling and waving glossy white binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.”

But Attorney General Pam Bondi had promised to release to the public both Epstein’s flight logs and the names of people tied to the disgraced financier on Thursday. That still hasn’t happened—infuriating MAGA Republicans in Congress.

“I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today.… A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein’s phonebook,” MAGA Representative Anna Paulina Luna noted on X. “THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!”

“1) If the Epstein files are out, where do we find them? (2) What’s the difference between ‘phase 1’ and ‘phase 2’?” asked Senator Mike Lee. “Will the Epstein files tell us whether he killed himself?” he asked later.

“THERE ARE NO EPSTEIN FILES!!!” MAGA talking head Laura Loomer raged on X. “THE BINDERS ARE PROPS. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE RIGHT WING PAID INFLUENCERS LIED TO ALL OF YOU TODAY! THEY ENGAGED IN DECEPTION TO RUN COVER FOR PEDOPHILES!!! THEY POSTED SELFIES WITH PROP BINDERS! LIARS AND DECEIVERS.”

Epstein raped an untold number of young girls for years on his private island and killed himself in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking of minors. The “Epstein files” are something of a white whale for the QAnon wing of MAGA, as they believe that their release would reveal the villainous liberal cabal that secretly coordinates international child sex trafficking. Many in the conspiracy community believe that Epstein’s death—and the botched release of this list—is part of a greater “deep state” cover-up.

“Skip to the end: The celebrities that your Facebook uncle says are on the Epstein List are not in any of the documents, and the story becomes ‘the deep state purged the documents,’” wrote Semafor’s David Wiegel.

By Thursday afternoon, Bondi claimed the FBI refused to hand over “thousands of pages” on the Epstein files and the real drop will happen on Friday, February 28.

The Trump administration is having trouble bringing back fired avian flu experts to take on the spread of the disease, which has caused egg prices to skyrocket.

Earlier this month, the administration fired 25 percent of the employees in an office testing for avian flu, as well as scientists and inspectors, as part of its mass purge of federal workers. The layoffs partially shut down a research facility at the Department of Agriculture, interrupting anti-bird flu efforts.

Administration officials are attempting to tout a $1 billion plan to combat the disease, as well as plans to import eggs from overseas. But that plan doesn’t include bringing back fired avian flu workers, whom the USDA is struggling to rehire. The agency is running into logistical issues as well as skeptical ex-employees, some of whom aren’t convinced they should return as Trump and Elon Musk continue to fire federal workers indiscriminately.

“I don’t know if people are going to want to come back,” one anonymous USDA employee told Politico. “Now there’s this perception that federal jobs are not secure. I think they permanently damaged these services.”

USDA supervisors have also been told to justify every bird flu employee being rehired, and some employees who have come back still don’t have laptop computers. It’s not clear if all of the fired avian flu employees have been asked to come back, and some of the reinstated workers were even sent emails urging them to take the Trump administration’s deferred resignation plan, according to two sources.

“Rather than measure twice and cut once, it’s more like everyone is on the chopping block and then, ‘Oh shit we cut the wrong people,’” a USDA employee told Politico.

This could be the first test of how the Trump administration handles a crisis with Musk wielding so much power within the government. Will Trump and Musk prioritize the need to combat the disease, prevent a potential pandemic, and safeguard the country? Or will they stubbornly continue to claim achievements while they gut crucial parts of the government?