Breaking News
Breaking News
from Washington and beyond

Jeffrey Epstein’s Brother Clears Up the “Bubba” Mystery—Sort of

Mark Epstein waded into the confusion swirling around one particular detail in the new emails.

A billboard in Times Square calls for the release of the Epstein files on July 23, 2025 in New York City.
Adam Gray/Getty Images
A billboard in Times Square calls for the release of the Epstein files on July 23, 2025 in New York City.

The internet had a field day this week when the House Oversight Committee released thousands of billionaire child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s emails to the public—including an exchange with his brother Mark that seemingly referred to Donald Trump performing fellatio on someone named “Bubba.”

Now, Mark Epstein has come out to remove a modicum of the mystery surrounding the remark, by revealing who Bubba is not.

In the message in question, from March 2018, Mark Epstein told his brother to ask former Trump adviser Steve Bannon whether Russian President Vladimir Putin “has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba.”

Jeffrey Epstein replied, “and i thought- I had tsuris,” using the Yiddish word for “troubles.”

Because “Bubba” is a nickname for Bill Clinton—who, like Trump, had a relationship with Epstein—social media was awash with jokes and speculation that Mark Epstein was, in jest or not, describing kompromat depicting the current and former presidents.

Mark Epstein issued a statement Saturday, shared online by Business Insider’s Jacob Shamsian, which described the emails as “simply part of a humorous private exchange between two brothers.”

“For the avoidance of doubt, the reference to ‘Bubba’ in this correspondence is not, in any way, a reference to former President Bill Clinton,” the statement continues. “Any attempt to conflate that reference with President Clinton, or to read sweeping implications into them, misrepresents both the purpose and the tone of the original correspondence.”

But while clarifying the unserious nature of the message, the statement leaves the true identity of Bubba unknown.

GOP Senator Speaks in Riddles Instead of Answering RFK Jr. Question

Bill Cassidy delivered a baffling response rather than admit the truth.

Senator Bill Cassidy speaks at a hearing.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Senator Bill Cassidy gave a puzzling answer about his role in placing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services.

During a Sunday appearance on Face The Nation, moderator Margaret Brennan asked if Cassidy—a physician whose support of vaccines has put him at odds with Kennedy—regrets his February confirmation vote.

Brennan observed that Cassidy decided to vote for Kennedy after receiving assurance that a key CDC vaccine advisory committee would be maintained “without changes”; Kennedy went on to fire all of its members, anyway, and appoint new ones, including vaccine skeptics, in their place.

In lieu of an answer, Cassidy offered the following gem: “You live life forward. Again, you just do,” he said, going on to quote Matthew 6:34. “Let the day’s own troubles be sufficient for the day.”

The senator continued, “He and I have publicly disagreed on some matters, but I strongly agree with him on others, and so, so that’s how I’ll answer your question.”

“That sounds, um, like yes,” Brennan noted.

Online, social media users mocked Cassidy’s enigmatic comments. “Translation: Yes, but I’ll pretend it’s a philosophical riddle,” wrote one. “Cassidy sounds like a fortune cookie,” posted another.

Before giving his nonanswer, Cassidy noted that “every reporter asks me that.” One would think he’d have a better response by now.

MTG Says She Still Supports Trump—Despite Vicious Feud

In an interview with CNN, the Georgia Republican weighed in on the war of words between herself and the president.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks into microphones outside the U.S. Capitol.
Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Far-right politician Marjorie Taylor Greene became embroiled in a bitter public fight with President Donald Trump this weekend which led her to receive threats against her life, she said—but she still supports him.

Their falling out highlights a growing divide in MAGA world, as Trump’s connections to convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein and his administration’s clumsy attempts to make the issue go away enrage some members of his base.

Greene, a Republican representative from Georgia, recently joined Democrats and three other House Republicans in signing a discharge petition intended to force a vote to make the DOJ’s Epstein files public, which displeased the president.

Greene said she texted Trump Friday about the files, and urged the president to be transparent and support the full release of the documents. She shared screenshots on social media of the purported texts.

In response, apparently, the president grew enraged, and denounced his former supporter in a post on Truth Social on Friday. Trump said he was withdrawing support for Greene and referred to her as a “raging Lunatic,” among other things. He kept going on Saturday, inventing new disparaging nicknames for his former ally and calling her a traitor.

Greene said she found his aggressive response “shocking,” that he had said things that were simply not true, and that she had received threats after his attacks on social media.

But speaking to CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday morning, the Georgia Republican pointed out that she had supported Trump and the Trump administration in the past, and still would.

“I stood with President Trump when virtually no one else did,” she said. “Campaigned all over the country, spent millions of my own dollars helping him get elected, and I think that’s incredibly important, and I do support him and his administration.”

His remarks had been hurtful, she said. “However, I have something in my heart that I think is incredibly important for our country, and that is to end the toxic fighting in politics. And this has been going on for years.… The most hurtful thing he said, which is absolutely untrue, is he called me a traitor. That is so extremely wrong. Those are the types of words used that can radicalize people against me and put my life in danger.”

It’s worth mentioning here that Greene has engaged in more than her share of vile, hateful rhetoric over the years. She’s espoused white supremacist and antisemitic views, endorsed conspiracy theories, and more.

The president’s attacks on her, however, seem to have crossed some sort of a line, as far as Greene was concerned.

“What do you think happened, what do you think is the reason for this is?” Bash asked.

“Unfortunately, it has all come down to the Epstein files,” Greene said.

Later in the interview, Bash asked if she could see a situation in which she and the president resolved things.

“I certainly hope that we can make up,” Greene said.

Trump Melts Down Over Failed Redistricting Effort in Indiana

The president is angry at Republicans in the Hoosier State.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

President Donald Trump is lashing out at Indiana Republicans for rejecting his redistricting effort in the state.

On Friday, Indiana state Senator Rodric Bray, a Republican, announced that, after “thoughtful consideration” of a plan to redraw the state’s congressional maps to help the Republicans gain more seats in Congress, “there are not enough votes to move that idea forward, and the Senate will not reconvene.”

In response, Trump on Sunday cast aspersions on Bray and a fellow Republican state senator, Greg Goode, for “not wanting to redistrict their State, allowing the United States Congress to perhaps gain two more Republican seats.” 

He called the two “politically correct type ‘gentlemen’” and “RINO Senators”—meaning Republicans in name only.

Trump also blasted Indiana’s Republican governor, Mike Braun, who supported the redistricting effort but, in the president’s view,  may not be giving his all “to get the necessary Votes.” Trump applied pressure to Braun, whom he described as his “friend,” adding, “Mike wouldn’t be Governor without me.”

The president concluded his tirade by threatening Indiana Republicans who oppose his redistricting scheme with a primary challenge.

Indiana is just one red state Trump is pressuring to redraw its congressional maps in his favor, as Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Missouri have already done so. Democratic officials in California and Utah have adopted redraws of their own, and others are attempting to do the same.

Read more about the redistricting battle:

The President Targets Seth Meyers in Latest Attack on Late Night

Donald Trump demanded NBC fire Meyers “IMMEDIATELY.”

Seth Meyers speaks at an event in New York.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

President Donald Trump and his Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, are apparently continuing their war on the media.

The president on Saturday took aim at comedian Seth Meyers, who, on Late Night with Seth Meyers the day prior, said Trump is “the most unpopular president of all time.” The notoriously thin-skinned Trump took to Truth Social, diagnosing the host with an “incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” a term MAGA frequently uses to dismiss its critics, and urging NBC to fire him.

About a half-hour later, Carr made a point to post a screenshot of Trump’s comments, without further comment, on X.

As Matthew Gertz of Media Matters noted, Comcast, the parent company of NBC, is reportedly looking to acquire some of Warner Bros. Discovery, which would require Carr’s approval.

The posts are just the latest example of the president seeking to censor those he believes have cast him in a critical light; he recently threatened the BBC with a billion-dollar lawsuit.

The targeting of Meyers especially recalls Trump and Carr’s jawboning of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show. After Kimmel ridiculed MAGA’s response to the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, Carr threatened those who platformed the host. Broadcasting companies with business before the FCC then pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live, which was subsequently cancelled by ABC before the network reversed course.

At the time—before Kimmel’s show returned to air—Trump claimed shows are “not allowed” to excessively bash him and urged NBC to suspend Meyers’ show, as well as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Read more about Trump’s attacks on the media: