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The Justice Department’s long-awaited rollout of the Jeffrey Epstein files has been a chaotic spectacle that, so far, has largely turned the spotlight back to his previously known associates, including President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, while fueling frustrations.

As of Tuesday evening in Washington, the DOJ had released thousands of pages of heavily redacted records and photos — mostly in two batches several days apart — stemming from investigations of the convicted sex offender. On Wednesday, it said prosecutors in New York identified 1 million more documents potentially related to the probe and that processing the material “may take a few more weeks.”

Already, there have been technical snafus, and reversals on whether to keep certain pages public. Internet sleuths quickly found ways to see through some blacked-out passages.

On this edition, Joe speaks with:

• Erik Larson, Bloomberg News legal reporter
• James Zirin, Former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York
• Lisa Camooso Miller, Senior Vice President at ROKK Solutions, Former RNC Spokesperson and Republican Strategist & Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Democracy Visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center and Bloomberg Politics Contributor
• Frank Luntz, Politics and Communications Consultant, Pollster/CEO of FIL Inc on the growing partisan divide
• Denver Riggleman, Former-Republican Congressman from Virginia, United States Air Force Intelligence Officer (Ret.), CEO of RIIG

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The US Justice Department released another tranche of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, including some that add fresh pressure on President Donald Trump over his past relationship with the late, disgraced financier.
The trove includes thousands of additional pages of material related to investigations of Epstein, including a 2020 email from a prosecutor that contains new detail about Trump’s trips on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s, which the president has said never took place. There are also fresh details on Epstein’s relationships with financial firms and figures.
Epstein has long been a political challenge for Trump. The two were once friends, but Trump maintains that he cut ties with him around two decades ago and was not aware of Epstein’s offenses.
On this edition, Joe speaks with:

• Laura Davison, Bloomberg Washington Deputy Bureau Chief
• Congresswoman Becca Balint, Democrat representing Vermont's At Large District
• Rick Davis, Partner at Stonecourt Capital and Bloomberg Politics Contributor & Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Democracy Visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center and Bloomberg Politics Contributor
• Ned Lamont, Governor of Connecticut

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Watch Joe and Kailey LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.

The US Coast Guard’s pursuit of a third oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela has intensified a blockade that the Trump administration hopes will cut off a vital economic lifeline and isolate the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

US forces chased the US-sanctioned Bella 1 on Sunday as it was en route to Venezuela. They boarded Centuries, a ship owned by a Hong Kong-based entity, on Saturday — the first non-sanctioned vessel to be targeted. Another very large crude carrier, the Skipper, was intercepted on Dec. 10.

The moves on three separate vessels represent the most concerted attempt to date to sever the financial links sustaining a government that Washington says is led by a drug-trafficking cartel, and one that it has also recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Maduro has so far withstood the onslaught, but the blockade is beginning to limit hard currency and to hurt an already battered economy.

On this edition, Joe speaks with:

• Nick Wadhams, Bloomberg US National Security Team Lead
• Nathan Dean, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior US Policy Analyst to preview Congress for 2026
• Joseph Majkut, Director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Democracy Visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center and Bloomberg Politics Contributor & Greta Joynes, Policy Director at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Republican Strategist on the latest fallout from the release of the Epstein files

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Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz deliver insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy. On this edition, Joe speaks with:

• Bloomberg Washington Correspondent Tyler Kendall.
• Sarah Krissoff Partner at Cozen O'Connor, and Former-Federal Prosecutor with the Southern District of New York
• Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Democracy Visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center and Bloomberg Politics Contributor & Lisa Camooso Miller, Senior Vice President at ROKK Solutions, Former RNC Spokesperson and Republican Strategist
• Norah Mulinda, Bloomberg Television Markets Correspondent

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Watch Joe and Kailey LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.

President Donald Trump looked to reassure Americans concerned about the rising cost of living by announcing plans to award a special holiday payment to military service members and roll out new housing reforms in the new year.

Trump announced the plans Wednesday during a prime-time address from the White House, which he used to extol his accomplishments from his first year back in the White House and convince voters they should still blame his predecessor for persistent economic anxieties.

Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz deliver insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy. On this edition, Joe speaks with:

• Republican Congressman Jodey Arrington of Texas, House Budget Committee Chairman.
• Groundwork Collaborative Managing Director Liz Pancotti.

• Bloomberg Washington Correspondent Tyler Kendall.
• Democratic Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth of Maryland.
• Stonecourt Capital Partner Rick Davis and Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center Visiting Democracy Fellow Jeanne Sheehan Zaino.
• Bloomberg National Security Reporter Jamie Tarabay.

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Four Republican lawmakers have signed onto House Democrats’ effort to force a vote on a three-year clean extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, an act of defiance against GOP leaders as moderates grow frustrated over health care.

Three Pennsylvania Republicans — Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan, and Ryan Mackenzie, along with New York’s Mike Lawler, signed Democrats’ discharge petition on the three-year bill. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) is helming the effort.

Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz deliver insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy. On this edition, Joe speaks with:

• Bloomberg Washington Correspondent Tyler Kendall.
• Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia.
• Stonecourt Capital Partner Rick Davis and Bellwether Government Affairs CEO Arshi Siddiqui.
• Ipsos US Public Affairs Chair Cliff Young.
• Bloomberg Markets Live Blog Managing Editor Kristine Aquino.

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Speaker Mike Johnson will block a push by moderate House Republicans for a vote on renewing expiring Obamacare subsidies, quashing a last-ditch effort to head off a spike in insurance premiums for more than 20 million Americans.

The Republican speaker’s decision guarantees enhanced Affordable Care Act premium credits expire at the end of the year. Democrats have made clear the congressional Republicans’ refusal to extend the subsidies will figure prominently in a midterm congressional campaign focusing on the high cost of living.

Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz deliver insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy. On this edition, Joe speaks with:

• Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center Visiting Democracy Fellow Jeanne Sheehan Zaino and Bluestack Strategies Founder Maura Gillespie.
• Republican Congressman Jason Smith of Missouri, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
• Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Commodities Strategist Mike McGlone.
• Former California Congresswoman Jane Harman.

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Watch Joe and Kailey LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signaled that Ukraine could accept security guarantees from the US and Europe as a way to prevent future Russian aggression, and substitute for its long-term goal of joining NATO.

Ukraine’s leader met at Germany’s Federal Chancellery in Berlin on Sunday with a US delegation led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, along with several national security advisers from Europe.

Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz deliver insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy. On this edition, Joe speaks with:

• Bloomberg Congressional Reporter Erik Wasson.
• AEI Nonresident Senior Fellow Heather Conley.
• Republican Congressman Troy Downing of Nebraska.
• Stonecourt Capital Partner Rick Davis and Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center Visiting Democracy Fellow Jeanne Sheehan Zaino.

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