What A Day - The Government Reopens — To More Epstein Chaos

Episode Date: November 13, 2025

The House returned on Wednesday and ended the longest shutdown in government history. House Republicans were joined by six democrats to fund the government through January 30th. Two Republicans voted against the bill. The final vote was 222-209. Earlier in the day, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released three emails from and to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that appear to indicate that President Donald Trump knew more about Epstein's activities than he had previously suggested. So for more on Epstein, Trump, and what Congress might do next, we spoke to Hailey Fuchs, a congressional reporter for Politico.And in headlines, Planned Parenthood struggles to keep clinics open after absorbing the cost of Medicaid patients who were cut off by the Trump administration's funding ban, the Make America Healthy Again movement summit takes place in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Mint ceases the production of pennies after more than 200 years.Show Notes: Check out Hayley's reporting – www.politico.com/staff/hailey-fuchsCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's Thursday, November 13th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is what a day. The show that unlike former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, never emailed Jeffrey Epstein for dating advice a decade after Epstein pled guilty to sex crimes. On today's show, Vice President J.D. Vance attends the first Maha summit with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. because nothing says peak health, like taking wellness advice from a man with the voice of a fallen angel. And in obituaries, the U.S. penny passes away at the age of 232 from natural causes. Or was she murdered? Stay tuned to find out. But let's start with the news of the day.

The House returned on Wednesday and ended the longest shutdown in government history. House Republicans were joined by six Democrats to fund the government through January 30th. Two Republicans voted against the bill. The final vote was 222 to 209. After weeks in the fight for health care, House Dems walked away with no guarantee of a vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies. But they did get plenty of attention earlier in the day as reporters and everyday Americans poured over the newly released emails of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and learned that, wow! A lot of powerful people sure did have time for that guy. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released three emails from and to Epstein that appeared to indicate,

that President Donald Trump knew more about Epstein's activities than he had previously suggested. Here's MSNBC reporting on two excerpts from the bombshell email correspondence, including a conversation with convicted sex trafficker, Galane Maxwell. Epstein, again, writing in 2011 to Maxwell, quote, I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump. And then Epstein refers to a victim that, quote, spent hours at my house with him. In a separate email with author Michael Wolfe in 2019, Epstein tells Wolf that Donald Trump, quote, explicitly knew about the girls as he asked Elaine to stop. In that first email mentioned by MSNBC, Epstein wrote that Trump spent hours at his house with Virginia Joufrey, a survivor of Epstein's abuse.

Jufre, who died by suicide earlier this year, said in a 2016 court deposition, quote, I don't think Donald Trump participated in anything. She also said that she heard Trump had been in Epstein's house but had not seen him there herself. And according to Politico, the dog that hasn't barked reference is to Trump not discussing Epstein's illegal activities. Those emails were among thousands made public Wednesday as Republicans in the House Oversight Committee responded to the Democrats' release by dropping more than 20,000 pages of documents it received from Epstein's estate. And with the House back, Arizona Democratic Representative Adelaida Grijolva was finally sworn into Congress by House Speaker, Mike Johnson. And that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you're about to enter. So help you God. I do. Congratulations. You're now members of the 19th Congress.

After acknowledging two alleged survivors of Epstein's abuse who were present during her swearing in, Representative Grijalva had one more piece of business to attend to on her first day on the job. That's what the American people expect us to do. Fight for them. That is why I will sign the discharge petition right now to release the Epstein files. With Representative Grijalva on board, the discharge petition to force the Department of Justice to release more documents on Epstein now has 218 signatures. By law, that means the beginning of the countdown to a vote that Speaker Johnson told reporters he will bring to the floor next week. The petition includes numerous signatures from Republicans, like Colorado Representative Lauren Bowie, who did so despite a phone call from Trump on Tuesday morning,

and despite being summoned to the White House on Wednesday to meet with Trump administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, a clear effort to get Bobert to remove her name from the petition. Here's White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt attempting to make that sound like a totally cool thing to do. In transparency, Caroline, why are White House officials then meeting with Representative Bobert in an effort to try and get her to not sign this petition calling for the release of the files? Doesn't it show transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of Congress whenever they please? Doesn't that show our level of transparency?

Doesn't that show the level of transparency when we are willing to sit down with members of Congress and address their concerns? That is that's a defining factor of transparency. Having discussions, having discussions with members of Congress about various issues, and I'm not going to detail conversations that took place in the situation room in the press briefing room. The Situation Room, a secure command center in the West Wing of the White House, where you have totally aboveboard, transparent conversations with members of Congress about totally normal things. So for more on Epstein, Trump, and what Congress might do next, I spoke to Haley Fuchs. She's a reporter at Politico.

Haley, welcome to what today. Thanks for having me. On Wednesday, House Democrats in the Oversight Committee released three emails from or to Jeffrey Epstein that include mentions of President Donald Trump. What are the most notable details in those messages? So those emails are pretty explosive. It's clear that Jeffrey Epstein was keeping tabs on Trump. Trump's name is mentioned throughout these thousands of documents that were released. But it seems notable that Jeffrey Epstein is claiming that Trump knew about what he was doing.

To that point, House Republicans released 20,000 additional pages of documents provided by Jeffrey Epstein's estate on Wednesday. I know that there are reporters combing through them, much as we speak, but is it clear yet whether there's anything significant in those pages besides, wow, a lot of people who should have known better spent a lot of time emailing Jeffrey Epstein. I think in those files we see, there was just web of powerful people who were communicating with Epstein, even long after the plea deal where he became a convicted sex offender. Republicans revealed that Virginia Jufre is the victim whose name was redacted by Democrats in Epstein's email to Galane Maxwell from 2011.

In that email, Epstein said that Joufrey's, quote, spent hours at my house with Trump. Virginia, Jufre, died by suicide earlier this year. But she didn't accuse Trump of any misconduct while she was alive, right? Yeah, and it's important to note that Trump hasn't been accused of taking part in the trafficking scheme. He hasn't been accused of, you know, wrongdoing here. But certainly it's notable that he maintained this connection to Jeffrey Epstein. What has been the response from the White House? The White House has claimed that Democrats were selectively releasing materials.

That's sort of been the Republican talking point. And Democrats, you know, to their point, did release only a select number of materials that were damaging to Trump. But even in the kind of more materials that we're looking through right now, Trump is named quite frequently in Jeffrey Epstein's emails. The House of Representatives has returned, and Representative Adelaita Grohava of Arizona was finally sworn in on one. Wednesday, right after her swearing in, she added her name as the 218th signature on the House petition to force a vote on the full release of the Epstein files. What happens now? So now, the countdown will begin for Speaker Mike Johnson to schedule a vote on the bill that would force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files in 30 days. It's likely

that this bill will pass the House. But Senate GOP leadership hasn't said they would put that bill up for a vote. And in order for it to become law, in order for it to act, actually force the Justice Department to do something, it would need to pass the Senate and then Trump would need to sign it into law. Yeah, it's interesting to me because the Senate is under Republican control. It would need to be signed by Trump, who is not going to sign it. I think I can say that for certain. But it is interesting to me that the White House and Donald Trump appear to have worked really hard to try to peel off GOP support from that petition in recent months. The White House confirmed that Trump spoke to Colorado Representative Lauren Bobert about signing the discharge

petition, she has said she will still sign it. Has anyone else on that list received a call that we know of? Right now it seems that all the Republican members are staying true to what they said and they're staying on the petition. But to your point, we know that the White House has been, you know, for a while now engaging in a campaign to try and get them to remove their names. So I want to ask just a little bit about the backstory here. Like, how did we get to this point with the Epstein files, with the DOJ, how did this discharge petition come to be? So back in July, the DOJ quietly released a memo saying that there were not going to raise more information in the Epstein case. This caused a lot of chaos online where people

were saying Trump and his allies promised to be transparent about the case against Jeffrey Epstein, and now they were reneging on that promise. And so after that, we saw this kind of big firestorm of attention around how Republicans were treating this case. And it led us to a point where a congressional committee ultimately subpoenaed the Justice Department for materials around the Jeffrey Epstein case. So what's the relationship between the Department of Justice and this discharge petition? So the discharge petition basically is a congressional procedural move that would force a vote in the House on a bill that would compel the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. Basically, it's fancy congressional talk for just a bill that would effectively

force DOJ to release information. And what we're seeing now is that DOJ is being slow to kind of actually turn over information to Congress, and there's hope among the petition supporters that this bill might actually force them to move quickly. And I think it's been interesting, not interesting in a good way, but it has been interesting to observe how during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump didn't talk very much about Epstein, but a lot of other Republicans who now have kind of high places in the administration from Cash Patel to Vice President J.D. Vance all talked about wanting to release the Epstein files, wanting to do this. Has there been any comment from any of those people as we start to see more information, as this discharge petition starts to happen. It is interesting that we went from, we absolutely have to get these files released to actually, no, we're all good. We don't need any more information.

I think there is maybe a lack of foresight that it would become this political issue for Trump. But certainly, we've watched a lot of Republicans in the administration struggle to kind of deal with the now criticism of them because they kind of have turned their back on being public about the material in this case. And Republicans in the White House have said that Democrats didn't do anything to push the DOJ to release these files under Joe Biden. How accurate is that claim? I think there's some validity that this was not a major political issue under Joe Biden. It certainly became a big firestorm in 2025 after the Trump administration released this memo saying they weren't going to release information in the Epstein case. And in part, it's become this big issue because Democrats have sought to stoke division among the president's base by pointing to what?

what they're doing on the Epstein case. Other than the House vote, what will you be watching for next when it comes to Congress and the Epstein files? I think this could put more pressure on the Justice Department to continue turning over information to congressional investigators around the Epstein case quite a few months ago. The House Oversight Panel subpoenaed the Justice Department for records in the Epstein case, but the Justice Department has been quite slow in actually turning those over. And so as this continues to be a major political issue for Trump and for the GOP,

it might push Justice Department to act more quickly. Haley, thank you so much for joining me. Thanks for having me. That was my conversation with political reporter, Haley Fuchs. We'll link to her work on the show notes. We'll get to more of the news in the moment. But if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts,

watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. What a Day is brought to you by Lola Blankets. My Lola Blanket is a key part of my evening wind-down ritual. It makes me feel ready for rest and relaxation, even when I've had a busy day covering all of this. Lola is the world's number one blanket, crafted with ultra-soft luxury vegan faux fur

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Headalines. You're going to see some substantial announcement over the next couple of days in terms of things we don't grow here in the United States. Coffee being one of them. Bananas, other fruits, things like that. So that will bring the prices down very quickly. Well, we're waiting.

Treasury Secretary Scott Besant is really doing his Bessent to put a positive spin on President Trump's bad economic policies. And by spin, I mean damage. control, as Trump's tariffs have hit American grocery stores, specifically coffee prices. According to consumer price index data, the price of roasted coffee increased at nearly 19% in September from a year ago. Analysts say factors include weather conditions and tariffs. Bessent spoke with Fox News on Wednesday about all things inflation, wages, and tax relief,

mentioning another one of Trump's ideas to stimulate the economy. Well, there are a lot of options here. that the president's talking about a $2,000 rebate, and that would be for families making less than, say, $100,000. Have you decided on that yet? We haven't. We haven't. It's in discussion.

I guess we'll have to wait and see on that, too. They'll probably have a plan in two weeks. Besson also said the American people are going to start feeling better next year as inflation stabilizes and wages increase. But there are people that say, The numbers are good on some areas, but I don't feel it. What do you say to those people to say, I don't feel it? Be patient.

I say that you are going to feel it. Dare I say, I guess we'll have to wait and see. This week, in elections have consequences, Planned Parenthood says it's reaching a breaking point. It comes after months of absorbing the cost of care for Medicaid patients who were cut off by the Trump administration's funding ban. The ban, tucked into President Trump's big Republican sources, spending law debacle disaster adventure, blocks federal reimbursements to health providers that

perform abortions and bill more than $800,000 in Medicaid each year. In September, a federal appeals court allowed the rule to take effect while Planned Parenthood's lawsuit plays out. Since the Medicaid ban took effect in July, the organization has closed 20 clinics. It has also spent tens of millions of dollars covering services like birth control, cancer screenings, and prenatal care for low-income patients who no longer qualify for coverage at its facilities. Planned Parenthood president and CEO Alexis McGill

Johnson warns that more closures are coming if states don't step in. Lawmakers in California, New York, and five other blue states have provided emergency funding, but Planned Parenthood says that without broader relief, quote, the damage will only grow, leaving over a million Medicaid patients without

affordable reproductive care. Sometimes there's this attack where people say, well, you know, this or that conclusion is not supported by the science, or this or that conclusion is a conspiracy theory. And science as practiced in its best form is that if you disagree with it, then you ought to criticize it and you ought to argue it against it, but you can't shut down the debate. Thank you, Vice President J.D. Vance for telling us we should argue with science.

Vance spoke alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Maha Summit in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, to promote the Make America healthy-again movement. While the Vance Kennedy event was live-streamed, the summit was otherwise off-limit to the press. But according to an agenda seen by the Hill, attendees were set to include a slew of health officials, like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator, the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, the National Institutes of Health Director, and the White House AI czar. Maha influencers were also scheduled to attend, as well as former race car driver Danica Patrick and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO,

and noted gambling addict, Dana White. And on the agenda, topics like the future of the FDA and NIH, psychedelic medicine, biohacking, and making American food healthier, according to the Hill. Comedian, if you can call him, that Russell Brandt was also expected to speak. I guess he's having a hard time booking gigs these days. But since the event was closed to the press, we got stuck with sound from J.D. Vance discussing how excited he was to speak with R.F.K. Jr., and why giving speeches is hard.

With the speech, you have to think about what you're going to say, where, you know, an interview, I just have to answer your questions. I don't have to think at all to do an interview. That's great. Clearly. You ready? Everybody ready? You ready? Three, two, one. Done.

All right. Good job. Good job. The U.S. Mint said, All right. to penny production, as a one-cent coin that could once buy a snack or a piece of candy has become increasingly irrelevant. The last pennies were struck with the mint in Philadelphia on Wednesday, ending more than 230 years of penny production in the U.S. officials said the final few pennies would be auctioned off. How much are you willing to pay for a one-cent coin? U.S. treasurer,

Brandon Beach, said ending production of the penny will save Americans $56 million a year. So by taking this step, we protect taxpayer dollars, streamline operations, and better align our currency with the way Americans use their modern wallets. Although today, we say goodbye to the continued production of our copper one cent coin, let me be crystal clear, the penny remains legal tender. We have over 300 billion pennies that remain in circulation. And we encourage you to use them. Where? President Trump sentenced the penny to death back in February as production costs exceeded the coin's value.

Still, many people have a nostalgia for the penny, seeing them as lucky or fun to collect. And some retailers voiced concerns in recent weeks as supplies ran low and the end of production drew near. They said the phase out was abrupt and came with no government guidance on how to handle transactions. And that's the news. Before we go, so by now you've all heard that CrookedCon was a blast, but you may not have heard that everyone loved the merch.

It didn't get quite the reaction to former President Barack Obama got, but it was very close. Couldn't make it to the convention? Nist your size? No worries. Our exclusive CrookedConn 25 merch is now available. Get your CrookedCon merch before it's gone at CrookedCon.com. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, celebrate a new bagpiping world record, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading,

and not just about how 374 bagpipers in Melbourne, Australia, gathered Wednesday to play ACDCs, It's a Long Way to the Top, breaking the record for the largest bagpipe out ensemble. Like me, Water Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and personally, that's too many bagpipes for me. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our Associate producers are Emily Four and Chris Allport. Our video editor is Joseph Dutra. Our video producer is Johanna Case. We had a production help today from Greg Walters, Matt Bird, Caitlin Plummer, Tyler Hill, and Ethan Oberman. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our senior vice president of News and Politics is Adrian Hill. We add help today from the Associated Press. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. I'm going to be able to be.