Inland Empire Progressive

During Rep. Jay Obernolte’s August  Spectrum News  interview, Obernolte delivered tidy talking points about House GOP messaging on President Trump’s Big Ugly Bill. But one response stood out like a flare in the dark regarding the question of the Epstein files: “We need to go open kimono.” He used it to emphasize transparency and to argue that government should be honest about its actions. And yet that very principle should mean that Obernolte should be a "Yes" on the upcoming vote to release the Epstein files. If he really believes what he said, then a “Yes” vote shouldn’t that hard. This moment calls for something far more significant than partisan gloss: it demands courage. And courage is exactly what Obernolte will need on the upcoming vote to release the Epstein files a vote he has no excuse to oppose. Transparency should never be controversial, yet Washington’s talent for avoiding accountability turns even the simplest moral choices into political calculus. The...

The decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to decline to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal is in fact the right one and it sends a clear message: accountability stands, and now the pressure squarely lands on the Donald Trump administration. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of five counts involving sex-trafficking of minors and conspiracy for her role in aiding  Jeffrey Epstein .  By refusing to rehear the case, it puts the onus on Trump to send her back to maximum security prison instead of playing with puppies. Maxwell’s attempt to overturn her conviction rested on a strained interpretation of Epstein’s 2007 non-prosecution agreement arguing it shielded her and other conspirators. But the lower appellate court rejected that logic, finding that the plea terms did not bind the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York . The Supreme Court’s decision not to intervene means the legal path Maxwell tried is closed, and the justice system ensured that her role in recruiting...

The notion that the current government  shutdown  is driven by fiscal wrangling or partisanship is erroneous on its face. The real reason for this government shutdown is that our congressional representative, Jay Obernolte, and his fellow Republicans is so that the Epstein files stay buried. Furloughing government workers, stalling services, and sowing chaos is all cover to keep the Epstein files from seeing the light of day. Democracy be damned, so they can protect powerful pedophiles.  The official narrative is that the shutdown is dragging on because Republican can't work on a bi-partisan deal with the Democrats. But the unofficial narrative is because House leaders continue blocking a discharge petition that would force a vote to release the Epstein files.  So, are we, the voters of the 23rd District naïve for noticing that a conveniently timed congressional absence happens to stall that vote? The timing is too perfect to be coincidence. Let’s call it what it is:...

With the recent release of portions of Jeffrey Epstein’s “birthday book” the public deserves a full accounting of what the FBI is hiding and why over terabytes of documents, videos, and recording remain withheld by Jay Obernolte and the Trump administration. Jay Obernolte's reluctance to sign the Discharge Petition by Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna is a lesson in cowardice. The release of these files is about justice for the victims, the rule of law, and restoring trust in institutions that are meant to protect the vulnerable. However, Rep. Jay Obernolte continues to side with the pedophiles by protecting the powerful. According to the discharge petition direct the Department of Justice to publicly disclose all records pertaining to the investigation of Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.  This would include unclassified records referring or relating to Epstein's detention and death; flight logs of aircraft owned or used by  Epstein ,  individuals named in conn...