Sunday, December 21, 2025 |
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Good morning, Welcome to MS NOW's Sunday Spotlight, where you can find a selection of the week's most interesting and important stories. The Justice Department released more documents related to years of investigations into Jeffrey Epstein. Meanwhile, a top Republican leader just showed how little power he really has, President Donald Trump's past is catching up with him, and the administration's latest foreign policy idea may have the opposite effect as intended. Plus, it may be the end of an era for a Super Bowl-winning team. Don't forget to check out more top columns and videos from the week below. |
Document dump: On Friday, the Justice Department began releasing at least some of the files related to investigations into Epstein — with more to come by year's end, the agency said. And while Democrats will surely feel pleased with themselves for their part in elevating the story and forcing the release of the files, this political scandal is about much more than everyday politics, writes journalist and author Paul Waldman. When crimes like Epstein's abuses are exposed — and especially when we learn that prominent people were complicit, or ought to have seen what they closed their eyes to — it offers a chance to reinforce our values and aspirations for the kind of society we want to have. Read more. |
Blown speaker: House Speaker Mike Johnson's unenviable situation got a little worse on Wednesday when four centrist Republicans joined with Democrats to force a vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies. After a similar effort to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files, the defections showed how weak a hand the Republican leader has over his own conference, writes Democratic strategist Max Burns. Johnson's next move — delaying the vote until January — only made him look more desperate, a bad sign for his political future heading into next year. Read more. |
Get rich quick: Trump has long pitched himself as a get-rich-quick guru, whether hosting "The Apprentice," endorsing multi-level marketing schemes or launching his own cryptocurrency. But that image is now hurting him as he tries to soothe concerns about the economy, writes personal finance journalist Helaine R. Olen. In a speech from the White House on Wednesday, Trump tried to fast-talk his way out of anxieties about affordability, but voters see every day that prices on things like beef, coffee and electricity have gone up since he took office. Read more. |
War on migration: The attacks on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific were reportedly the brainchild of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. His idea? To diminish the power of drug cartels in order to stabilize Latin America, reducing the desire of people to migrate to the U.S. The problem is that Miller's approach, which has morphed into calling for regime change in Venezuela, will likely lead to more migrants, writes Hayes Brown. War is always destabilizing, and when residents of Latin America feel their countries aren't stable, they look to the U.S. as a promising alternative. Read more. |
End of an era? When Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, in his left knee on Sunday, it was no ordinary injury. ACL tears are catastrophic for any athlete, but they're especially damaging to a quarterback known for extending plays by getting around defenders before throwing a last-second pass, writes sports journalist Keith Reed. Mahomes likely won't be back on the field in a regular season game until September 2027, while other key players — including tight end (and Taylor Swift fiancé) Travis Kelce — may leave the team or retire. Read more. |
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Former special counsel Jack Smith has become a political target for his investigations into Trump, finding himself called in for a closed-door interview with a House committee this week. But Smith is a straight shooter, "fair, impartial and fearlessly committed to the facts and the law," writes his onetime legal adversary John Dowd. A former prosecutor himself, Dowd represented Trump during his first term and once squared off against Smith over a high-profile investigation of a Republican client. In that case, Dowd said Smith showed that he was not influenced by politics and kept an open mind on where the evidence would lead, showing he was "a man of integrity." "I cannot stand silent while he is vilified by people who do not know him," Dowd writes. Read the column here. — Ryan Teague Beckwith, newsletter editor |
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This week on "The Best People," Nicolle Wallace speaks with comedian and star of "Life: Part Two," Leslie Jones, to discuss comedy's singular power to expose political absurdity, and the need to reject complacency to reclaim the moment. Listen now. |
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