Todd Blanche says review of Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking case is over' (Februry 2, 2026)
www.theguardian.com

... Deputy US attorney general says victims want to be made whole' but that doesn't mean 'we can just create evidence' ...

Then there's this ...

Who Is Maurene Comey, the Fired U.S. Attorney and Prosecutor of Jeffrey Epstein? (July 2025)
time.com

... The Department of Justice has abruptly fired a prosecutor who worked on the case against the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Maurene Comey was fired Wednesday from her job in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office, Politico first reported. CNN and the Associated Press also reported on Comey's firing, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation.

While the reason remains unclear, Comey's firing comes at a time of heightened interest in the Trump Administration's handling of the so-called Epstein files. A memo released last week by the Justice Department and FBI effectively dismissed the existence of an Epstein "client list," and said that the agencies will disclose no further information on the case. ...

Why fire the Prosecutor who is most knowledgeable in the Epstein affair?

Bondi says DOJ is investigating possible Epstein conspirators
www.politico.com

... Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday her department is actively probing individuals who might have conspired with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"We have pending investigations in our office," she said during her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, when asked by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) if people would be indicted for ties to Epstein's crimes.

It was not clear if Bondi was referring to work by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, where Bondi has directed U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to oversee investigations into connections between Epstein and prominent Democrats. ...

Pam Bondi's Approval Rating Collapses by 47 Points (December 2025)
www.newsweek.com

... U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's approval rating has declined by 47 points in 10 months, recent polls show.

According to polling by AtlasIntel, the proportion of people who approve of Bondi has dropped from net +6 percentage points in February to net -41 in December. ...

Semisonic - Down In Flames (1996)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
It's not the pain, that I'm used to it
It's feeling like I'm already dead
I see from a ceiling of misty spirit
Rising from a place in my head

And I never even get to go down
Down in flames

I said, friend you have a life to see
Why do you want to scare me so?
All the suffering and mystery me
I can't even pretend to know

So you never even get to go down
Down in flames
You never even get to go down
Down in flames

We had plans to explore the stars
Be rejected by stage door guards
Mining for gold, the time unreels
Not stifling behind Suburban wheels
Not stifling behind Suburban wheels, yeah

The plan was to burn up when the air was clear
We'd all wear our visors down
An arc welder's spark in the atmosphere
Not this man-sized hole in the ground

Now your father's face is frozen between anger and tears
You're mother's hair's amazingly grey
And I'm seeing these friends for the first time in years
It's icicle reunion day

And you never even got to go down
Down in flames
You never even got to go down
Down in flames

You never even got to go down
Down in flames
You never, ever, ever even got to go down
Down in flames
...

Get more electricity from coal, Trump tells Department of Defense
www.latimes.com

... President Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order directing the Department of Defense to buy electricity from coal-fired power plants. He also announced new funding to restart and upgrade coal plants in several states.

The executive order directs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright to enter into long-term contracts with coal-fired plants to serve military installations and facilities. The order will "ensure military installations and critical defense facilities have uninterrupted, on-demand baseload power," the White House said.

The Department of Energy will also award $175 million for six projects to "extend the useful life of coal-fired power plants" in rural and remote communities, including West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio, the agency said. ...

Trump to direct Pentagon to buy coal to revive industry
www.reuters.com

...U.S. President Donald Trump is set to direct the Pentagon to use government funding and Pentagon contracts to sustain U.S. coal-fired power plants, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing a White House official.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report. The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment outside of regular business hours, while the Pentagon deferred to the White House for comment. ...

www.bbc.com

... He did choose to say one line in English, "God bless America", before listing nations of Central, South and North America as dancers carried their flags.

Behind them, a billboard message read "The only thing more powerful than hate is love", and he held a football at the end of the segment bearing the slogan in English: "Together, We Are America." ...

Despite that, President Donald Trump, who did not attend this year's Super Bowl, called Bad Bunny's set "absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!" on his social media platform Truth Social.

He added that it was "an affront to the Greatness of America" and "nobody understands a word this guy is saying". ...

Surge in Spanish-study seekers follows Bad Bunny Super Bowl performance
www.mercurynews.com

... Aspiring Spanish speakers are flocking to learn the language in the wake of Bad Bunny's Super Bowl LX halftime show.

A spike in Duolingo activity preceding the much-heralded all-Spanish set hadn't changed much by Tuesday, though the language-app company acknowledged it is too soon to know whether that will stick.

"Is this what a one-night stand feels like?" Duolingo quipped on X about whether the interest would translate to an actual relationship.

The initial stats were promising, as indicated by postgame Google search trends reported by the website Canada Sports Betting. Surveying several Google Trends search terms referencing Bad Bunny and "learn Spanish," oddsmakers detected "major spikes in Spanish-related curiosity," the site reported. This showed a 122% increase in searches for "learn Spanish" in the U.S. during the 24 hours following the Super Bowl, and a 96% increase in Canada.

New Hampshire led the U.S. in "curiosity score" for a search surge for "Bad Bunny lyrics" and "Bad Bunny translation," followed by Rhode Island, Maine, Pennsylvania, and a tie for Colorado and Kentucky for relevant variations on those terms. ...

As many as 60 million people in the U.S. already speak Spanish, including 42 million at home, according to data from the Instituto Cervantes. In fact, U.S. Spanish speakers outnumber those in Spain and is on track to be second only to Mexico by 2060. ...