Evelyn Reynolds

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    ‘I believe this is going to be a reckoning’: Ro Khanna, the man behind the Epstein files act, on building bipartisan wins

    The California Democrat believes common ground does not only lie in the center – and has the successes to prove itIt was mid-December, and Ro Khanna was watching the calendar. The 19 December deadline for the justice department to comply with a new law the California representative wrote was ticking closer – and his bill was already forcing sealed documents about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation into full view.In the weeks leading up to the deadline, three federal judges in Florida and New York had reversed years of secrecy, releasing grand jury testimony they had previously kept sealed. And when the deadline arrived, while the justice department didn’t release everything, thousands of new files, connections and photographs began to complete the picture on what Khanna calls “the Epstein class … rich and powerful men who still have buildings named after them, who still are on corporations, are still in positions of prestige, who engage in heinous conduct. Continue reading… More

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    Through the lens of history, Trump’s legacy will be more of a blotch than a Maga masterpiece | Simon Tisdall

    Take this hopeful thought into 2026: the tyrants we endure always falter, and their ‘seismic’ upheavals are usually false dawnsFor those who lived through the cold war, the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, was an unforgettable moment. The sinister watch towers with their searchlights and armed guards, the minefields in no-man’s land, the notorious Checkpoint Charlie border post, and the Wall itself – all were swept aside in an extraordinary, popular lunge for freedom.Less than a month later, on 3 December 1989, at a summit in Malta, US president George HW Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared that after more than 40 years, the cold war was over. All agreed it was a historic turning point.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading… More

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    Trump news at a glance: Republican turns ‘lowlife’ taunt back on president to raise campaign funds

    Thomas Massie, who co-authored Epstein files act, says president attacked him for keeping commitment to ‘help victims’. Key US politics stories from 27 December at a glanceThe Kentucky Republican congressman Thomas Massie – who was singled out by Donald Trump on Christmas as a “lowlife” after co-authoring a law requiring the federal government to release all of its Jeffrey Epstein files – says the president attacked him for keeping a commitment to “help victims”.The congressman then successfully sought donations for his run in the 2026 midterm elections against an opponent that Trump has endorsed. Continue reading… More

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    A vineyard manager’s deportation shattered an Oregon town. Now his daughter is carrying on his legacy

    Alondra Sotelo Garcia took over her father’s business when he was deported to Mexico after three decades in the USAlondra Sotelo Garcia saw the same headlines as everybody else. Masked immigration agents making increasingly bold arrests. Community members disappearing without warning.As the middle child of immigrants, she feared for her parents. She started tracking her father’s iPhone location, put in her two weeks’ notice at her job, and told her father she wanted to start working at the vineyard management company he founded after decades in the wine industry. Continue reading… More

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    Trump is shamelessly covering America in his name | Mohamad Bazzi

    Using the presidency as a branding opportunity, Trump is slapping his name on buildings, monuments and projects In 2011, Donald Trump published a book with the self-help guru Robert Kiyosaki titled Midas Touch. It’s a typical self-empowerment manual in which the pair expound on the secrets of entrepreneurial success while drawing on their personal experiences. At one point, they write: “Building a brand may be more important than building a business.”That was certainly Trump’s approach to business: he was the New York real estate tycoon who turned his fame into a brand that symbolized luxury and savvy strategy – even if his companies filed for bankruptcy six times. Trump spent decades trying to use his name to turn a profit: he owned an airline and a university, and slapped his moniker on vodka, steaks, neckties, board games and even bottled water. Leveraging the fame he gained from the Apprentice TV show, he expanded to licensing Trump-branded global real estate projects built by other developers. In many of these ventures, Trump collected licensing fees, rather than investing his own money, ensuring that he profited even if the businesses collapsed. Continue reading… More

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    Trump urges Republicans to ditch filibuster rule in US Senate

    Rule allows minority party to block legislation, but GOP is reluctant to scrap it as they could lose majorityDonald Trump has floated the idea of ending the filibuster – a procedural technique in Congress that allows a minority of senators to block legislation from passing – which would make pushing through his political agenda in 2026 much easier.In an interview with Politico, the president urged Republicans in the Senate to scrap the filibuster, saying it had become an obstacle to effective governing and removing it would prevent another government shutdown and pave the way for his party to push through its legislative priorities. Continue reading… More

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    Inflatable frogs and ice scrapers: nine innovative ways Americans protested against Trump in 2025

    Historically, when organizers have used tactical innovation, movement activity has peakedFederal agents in military fatigues carrying assault rifles in major cities. Huge cuts to healthcare, science and the US’s largest anti-hunger program. Immigrants dragged from cars and courthouse hallways. Rising authoritarianism, corruption and anti-democratic behavior. These are just some of the reasons pushback against the Trump administration is growing with each passing day.While traditional marches such as the massive No Kings protests are a critical part of any resistance movement, sociologist Doug McAdam has shown how tactical innovation – the introduction of creative or novel protest methods – was a key part of the success of the civil rights movement in the US. Historically, when organizers established new tactics, movement activity peaked. Continue reading… More

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    Epstein texts and yelling at Trump: US House’s year of censures

    Lawmakers spent much of 2025 seeking to reprimand each other – here’s a look back at what sparked such outrageIt’s been a year for the history books in the House of Representatives. Lawmakers broke the record for longest floor speech and longest vote, and presided over the lengthiest government shutdown.They also spent plenty of time seeking to reprimand each other by passing censures, as the House’s formal mechanism for discipline is known. A search on Congress.gov reveals at least 17 attempts since the start of the year to condemn another lawmaker, in the form of a censure or a less formal disapproval resolution. Continue reading… More