Schools Nationwide Cancel Picture Day Over Epstein Tie Conspiracy

Schools across the country are canceling their annual picture day after the ex-owner of one of the nation’s largest school photography companies was revealed to be one of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates.

Protests and district-wide investigations were opened due to unsubstantiated rumors that Leon Black, the ex-CEO of a private equity firm that owns the tech company Lifetouch, had access to school pictures taken by the company, reported HuffPost.

“At this time, no evidence has been presented indicating misconduct involving Lifetouch’s operations within our schools or any compromise of student information. Nevertheless, we believe it is appropriate to review the matter carefully and transparently,” Clifton Public Schools, a school district in New Jersey, wrote in a letter to parents on Wednesday.

Across the country in Arizona, school officials were issuing similar notices.

“While we do not have any information indicating a direct impact on our school or our students, our highest responsibility is always the safety, security, and trust of our families,” the Prescott Valley Charter School said in an announcement to parents.

Concerns were also raised in California and Texas.

Lifetouch is not mentioned in the Epstein files, but Black, a Wall Street titan and famed art collector, most definitely is.

Black co-founded and led Apollo Global Management until 2021. Apollo acquired Lifetouch in 2019 when it purchased the photo business’s parent company, Shutterfly. The deal officially closed in September of that year, a month after Epstein died in prison.

Black was ousted from Apollo after an internal review found the billionaire financier had significant ties to Epstein, including more than $150 million in payments for financial advice between 2012 and 2017.

Two years later, an unidentified Jane Doe sued Black for allegedly raping her when she was just 16 years old in Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse. The graphic lawsuit detailed that the victim had autism and a rare form of Down syndrome that has left her “developmentally … at about 12 years old.” It was the third such lawsuit accusing Black of rape.

Lifetouch denied that Black ever had access to their photos in a statement, insisting that the company is “committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of every student we serve.”

“Lifetouch is not named in the Epstein files. The documents contain no allegations that Lifetouch itself was involved in, or that student photos were used in, any illicit activities,” the company wrote.

This story has been updated.

The ripple effect of the most recent release of the Epstein files has traveled across the water, causing high-profile resignations and even criminal charges everywhere, except where they’re needed most: the White House. 

Dubai Ports World CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, whom Jeffrey Epstein thanked in an email for a “torture video,” resigned from his post on Friday. The company announced his replacement in a statement that made no mention of Epstein. 

Former Obama White House counsel and Goldman Sachs chief legal officer Kathryn Ruemmler also had an extensive, close personal relationship with Epstein. The high-ranking Democratic lawyer spent significant time with Epstein well after his 2008  conviction, tagging along on “lunches and dinners with celebrities, apartment hunting, and personal beauty appointments,” according to documents reviewed by CNN. On Thursday, she resigned from Goldman Sachs. 

And that same day, even Thorbjorn Jagland—the former prime minister of Norway—faced consequences for his alleged financial ties to Epstein. He had his diplomatic immunity revoked and has been charged with “gross corruption” in Norway.

These are perhaps the most direct and tangible consequences for having a relationship with the infamous sexual predator, aside from the now former Prince Andrew, who was essentially booted from the British royal family for his extensive allegations of sexual abuse alongside Epstein. And yet multiple people within the current Trump administration are in the files—and remain unaffected. 

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who lived next door to Epstein in New York, went on the conservative Pod Force One podcast last year and told an elaborate story about how he swore to never meet with Epstein again after a strange interaction in 2005. But the files revealed that Lutnick was lying blatantly, and that he took his entire family to Epstein’s island seven years after he said he cut off ties. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz invited Epstein over for a Valentine’s party in 2016—eight years after Epstein was registered as a sex offender. Both men have received the full support of the Trump administration, even as calls for their resignations have increased, along with actual results around the world. That’s nothing to say of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, Elon Musk, and many more with ties to the disgraced sex offender.

If the former prime minister of a major European country, an international CEO, and the general counsel of Goldman Sachs can all get sacked over their clear connections to Epstein, why can’t Lutnick, Oz, or any other government official who was involved with Epstein after his sex offender registry do the same? 

The Department of Homeland Security wants to beef with Cardi B? Are you sure?

At the opening night of her “Little Miss Drama Tour” in Palm Desert, California, Wednesday, Cardi B joked that she would defend her Mexican and Guatemalan fans against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to TMZ.

“Bitch, if ICE comes in here, we gon’ jump they asses,” Cardi B said, as the crowd cheered.

“I’ve got some bear mace in the back! They ain’t taking my fans, bitch,” she continued. The rapper then launched into one of her most popular songs, “I Like It,” featuring J. Balvin and Bad Bunny, whose recent Super Bowl halftime show offered a political lightning rod for MAGA.

On Thursday, the DHS social media team took time out of its busy schedule of posting neo-Nazi memes and anti-American propaganda to hit back at Cardi B.

“As long as she doesn’t drug and rob our agents, we’ll consider that an improvement over her past behavior,” the DHS official account posted, referring to the rapper’s past statements about her encounters with some customers while she was working as an adult entertainer.

Cardi B was unsurprisingly quick with a clapback. “If we talking about drugs let’s talk about Epstein and friends drugging underage girls to rape them,” she wrote on X Thursday. “Why yall don’t wanna talk about the Epstein files?”

Cardi B’s outspoken criticism of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown comes as the rapper’s longtime nemesis Nicki Minaj has gone full MAGA.

Expired-special-employee Corey Lewandowski took it out on federal officials when he couldn’t get his way with a highly unusual quest.

Lewandowski, who entered the ranks of the Department of Homeland Security thanks to close proximity to rumored beau Kristi Noem, reportedly attempted to get his hands on a badge and federally issued gun, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The 52-year-old was relegated to the position of “special government employee” after he was denied the job of Noem’s chief of staff. His request to top ICE officials to receive a badge and weapon was highly unusual—not only due to the informal nature of his employment at DHS, but also because Lewandowski never received the basic prerequisite of law enforcement training.

In one instance detailed by the Journal, the Trump administration was planning to tap former ICE official Tom Feeley as the agency’s new director. But Lewandowski’s request—and Feeley’s rejection of it—subsequently lost Feeley the job.

Feeley wasn’t the only one to lose their DHS gig over Lewandowski’s power-hungry crusade. Realizing that he needed a legal justification for the gun, Lewandowski turned to ICE’s legal office, asking officials there to issue him a legal note recommending the weapon. One of the agency’s top attorneys, Ken Padilla, similarly refused.

Days later, Padilla was placed on administrative leave, and was later demoted and relocated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to sources that spoke with the Journal.

Eventually, Lewandowski got what he wanted, managing to get other attorneys in the office to cave to his demands. In the end, it was Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons that signed off on Lewandowski’s request via autopen.

Lewandowski has been tied into MAGA’s inner fold for years, having made his name as Donald Trump’s first campaign manager in the 2016 presidential race.

Ohio Senator John Husted accepted thousands of dollars in donations from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators, before voting against releasing the Department of Justice’s files on the alleged sex trafficker.

As long as Husted has been in office, he has accepted money from Les Wexner, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret whose name was inexplicably redacted out of the Epstein files until earlier this week. The Ohio Republican has raked in more than $116,000 from Wexner since 2001, when he first entered public office as a member of Ohio’s state House of Representatives.

Husted accepted $3,500 from Wexner as recently as July—only two months before he voted to block the release of the Epstein files, according to campaign finance records reviewed by TiffinOhio. In November, Husted, a steady MAGA sycophant, again voiced opposition to releasing files. But days later, the Epstein Files Transparency Act was passed through the Senate by unanimous consent.

Husted wasn’t the only one who accepted money from the Wexner: The billionaire doled out more than $250,000 in donations to Republican candidates in the past year, especially ones in his home state of Ohio, according to NOTUS.

In June, Wexner gave $3,500 to Senator Bernie Moreno, and a month later, the Republican senator claimed that the frenzy to release the Epstein files was being “fueled” by the media and Democrats—despite mounting calls from members of his own party to release the documents. In September, he joined Husted in voting against the files’ release, before ultimately agreeing to support the Epstein Files Transparency Act’s passage in November.

Wexner also gave $3,500 to Republican Representative Mike Carey, as well as one Democrat, Representative Joyce Beatty.

Wexner was among the six powerful men who had their names redacted by the DOJ, and his name appeared on a list of potential co-conspirators.