Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,

In recent days, President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Senator Rand Paul, and some others have pressed for an audit of the US gold reserves, with a special focus on the gold at Fort Knox. This is perfectly reasonable given that the US gold reserves – which are the property of the US Treasury and not the Federal Reserve – have not undergone even a partial audit in at least forty years.

Part of the reason for the audit is to discover if any of the gold has been stolen. The US Mint, the government agency that acts as custodian of the gold, has reported for many years that the official size of the gold reserve is 8,133.46 metric tons of gold. Since there has been no audit in so many decades, though, the Mint’s position is essentially “trust us, bro.” Trusting federal bureaucrats has never been a particularly wise policy, and this is why there are ongoing demands for some sort of transparent audit.

If the total size of the US’s gold holdings is revealed to be a number below the official number, then it will just be the latest reminder that there a great many thieves and incompetents among the people running the US federal government. After all, if there is less gold than reported in the US gold reserves, it was presumably stolen at some point.

This would be a fitting destiny for the US government’s gold since much of that was stolen to begin with. When I say “stolen,” I don’t even mean in the sense that “taxation is theft” and that the US bought the gold using tax dollars. In truth, the way the US Treasury acquired much of its gold hoard is even more underhanded than ordinary taxation.

Rather, it is likely that most of the gold at Fort Knox, as with the US regime’s gold in general, is gold stolen from ordinary Americans as a part of Franklin Roosevelt’s efforts to end the gold standard and confiscate private gold holdings in the United States. That is, the US gold reserves are a legacy of the way the US government reneged on its promises to redeem US dollars in gold. Rather than pay out the gold that was owed to holders of US dollars, the US government hoarded it instead. That stolen gold is what the auditors will be counting if the US government ever allows an honest accounting of the Treasury’s gold reserves.

Where Did the Gold at Fort Knox Come From?

In his 1994 article for The Journal of Economic Education, economist William C. Wood writes that “the Fort Knox depository is now an artifact of gold standard days.“ He then adds, “The gold currently in Fort Knox came from the melting of Depression-era gold coins, from lend-lease arrangements in War II, and from government operations under the gold standard.”

That reference to “Depression-era gold coins” is telling. Most of those gold coins were likely the coins confiscated from private owners by the US government following Roosevelt’s Executive Order 6102 which outlawed the private ownership of gold. Few Americans owned gold bars, of course, and the gold that was in non-institutional private hands was mostly gold coin. Roosevelt’s edict required that private citizens hand this gold over to the US government in exchange for what was effectively below-market prices. And what if you would rather not give up your property to the US government? Too bad.

Moreover, private banks and the central bank held gold in the form of coins for dollar holders who, prior to confiscation, would occasionally present US dollars for redemption in gold. This is, in part, the gold in Fort Knox that that Wood classifies as gold held for “government operations under the gold standard.” After 1933, however, banks did not need to hold onto any gold coins for this purpose since Roosevelt’s effort to end the gold standard included a prohibition on banks paying out gold.

So, these coins ceased to have an immediate market value among banks. Where did all these gold coins end up? Most ended up with the US Treasury after the Treasury seized the Federal Reserve’s gold in 1934.

Evidence of this can be found in the nature of the gold that is now held at Fort Knox. Wood further explains that the gold there is not the type of gold usually found in gold bars used for international transactions: “The gold resulting from melting of coinage has considerably lower quality than the ‘fine’ or ‘good delivery’ gold commonly used in international trade. The majority of the gold in Fort Knox is the lower-quality coin gold.”

The legacy of the US regime’s gold theft is not limited to the coins that happened to be in private hands in 1933, however. Much of the gold that is in the US gold reserves today is gold that would have been paid out to the private sector had the US government not reneged in its promises to pay war bonds in gold. 

The 1934 Default on Gold-Based Liberty Bonds

Every time there is a debate over the so-called “debt ceiling,” various servants of the US regime like Jerome Powell or Janet Yellen claim that “the United States has never defaulted.” This is a lie. 

Arguably, it was a default, in the broad sense, when Roosevelt’s regime refused to make good on its obligations to dollar holders under the gold standard. The US also defaulted in a formal and legal sense when it refused to pay its World War I Liberty Bonds in gold as promised. Specifically, in 1934, the United States defaulted on the fourth Liberty Bond. The contracts between debtor and creditor on these bonds was clear. The bonds were to be payable in gold. This presented a big problem for the US, which was facing big debts into the 1930s after the First World War. As described by John Chamberlain:

By the time Franklin Roosevelt entered office in 1933, the interest payments alone were draining the treasury of gold; and because the treasury had only $4.2 billion in gold it was obvious there would be no way to pay the principal when it became due in 1938, not to mention meet expenses and other debt obligations. These other debt obligations were substantial. Ever since the 1890s the Treasury had been gold short and had financed this deficit by making new bond issues to attract gold for paying the interest of previous issues. The result was that by 1933 the total debt was $22 billion and the amount of gold needed to pay even the interest on it was soon going to be insufficient.

So how did the US government deal with this? Chamberlain notes “Roosevelt decided to default on the whole of the domestically-held debt by refusing to redeem in gold to Americans.”

In other words, thanks to its profligate deficit spending, the US government was running out of gold by the early 1930s. So, the regime defaulted on the gold bonds. The gold that would have passed into private hands was hoarded by the federal government and declared off limits to the public. Much of that gold remains in the US gold reserves today.

Defaulting on International Gold Obligations

Not all of the US Treasury’s gold is stolen from ordinary Americans. Some is stolen from foreign governments. Another illustration of the dishonesty of the “we never defaulted” narrative is the fact that the US government defaulted in 1971 on its obligations to foreign government under the Bretton Woods system. That is, rather than pay what was owed to foreign governments, the US government once again decided to steal this gold and simply said “tough luck” to everyone with a legal claim to the gold. Or, as Treasury Secretary John Connally said at the time, the dollar “is our currency, but it’s your problem.”

US Gold Reserves: A Legacy of Theft and Lies

The gold reserve was never supposed to be a static, untouchable hoard of the US federal government, as it is now. It was supposed to be there for Americans and other users of dollars who traded in their dollars for gold. Gold was supposed to flow in and out. Then, the US government slammed the doors of the federal gold vaults shut and declared “the gold is all ours forever.” 

Like most everything else the US government “owns,” the gold in the US gold reserves is there due to many years of lies, gaslighting, and deception. The gold is there because the US regime defaulted on its debts and reneged on its promises to back dollars in gold.

If a true auditing team is ever allowed to actually examine the US regime’s gold, it will be examining the evidence of crimes from long ago. The auditors will be counting the gold stolen from our ancestors to enrich the state and its friends.

The Trump administration’s epic purge of federal workers is shaping into one of the most significant job cuts in a generation. Early indicators suggest Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland may be in the beginning innings of an economic downturn, as jobless claims rise and a surge in active housing listings signals a very ominous outlook.

On Thursday morning, Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo, joined Bloomberg TV, warning, “The consensus expects total DOGE-related job cuts to be 300,000 … However, studies show that for every federal employee, there are two contractors.” 

“As a result, layoffs could potentially be closer to 1 million,” Slok noted. 

Watch Slok’s interview…

Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo, examines the potential level of federal job cuts that may be seen from the Department of Government Efficiency and says stagflation is “the backdrop for the conversation that we’re having in markets at the moment” https://t.co/w75JWgHA0u pic.twitter.com/RgKzIM4Ow7

— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) February 27, 2025

New jobs market data this AM showed that DOGE-related layoffs are beginning to filter through. Now comes the tsunami…

DOGE Wins As DC Jobless Claims Soared Last Week https://t.co/ISgKiUOW67

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 27, 2025

Dominic Konstam, head of macro strategy at Mizuho, asked: “DoGE-led recession risk?” 

The market is focused on a negative economic fallout from Federal spending cuts. The level of potential Federal job losses is too small to derail growth, but overall government spending has been egregiously high in recent years. There has also been excessive job growth in the “government” sectors, including federal, state, and local government, as well as in education and health. If DoGE sets a precedent on jobs and achieves spending cuts that ricochet through the quasi-public sector, it is likely that new economic headwinds will develop. ​​

Oh wow, where have we seen this? Just 3 weeks ahead of the curve.

And now the official narrative is set. https://t.co/IVA9GG8qxG pic.twitter.com/FJU0G92Q3H

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 27, 2025

Earlier this month, BofA’s Michael Hartnett commented: “Washington, DC recession begins.”

“Government Recession Begins”: DC Active Home Listings Soar, Jobless Claims Spike As DOGE Drains Swamp https://t.co/1vP15sKxff

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 16, 2025

New data from Bright MLS, one of the most extensive multiple listing services in the US, shows that DC’s active listing continues trending around 25% compared to the same week one year ago and is up 4% from one week ago. 

DC active listings are trending well over levels seen in the past three years and could be ripe for much more upside as DOGE-related layoffs ramp up. 

Active listings in DC with price decreases are also on the rise. 

As the spring selling season begins, median prices in DC are still trending above the last few years. 

Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth Management, called the situation unfolding in Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland as the “largest job cut in American history (by a mile).”  

Google searches for “recession” remain tame across the country, but DC is currently searching for it the most… pic.twitter.com/QImaoN5EKk

— Bespoke (@bespokeinvest) February 27, 2025

And it begins. 

Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,

Police in Loveland, Colorado have arrested a suspect who allegedly vandalized a local Tesla dealership several times, and who left incendiary devices at the scene.

Justin Thomas Nelson, 42, a transgender person who goes by the first name Lucy, was arrested Monday night without incident.

The arrest stems from a Lovement Police investigation into attempted arson that took place at a Tesla shop shortly after midnight on Feb. 7. In addition, police said that various vehicles and the Tesla building were vandalized with graffiti messages, some of which were offensive and hateful in nature.

A radical trantifa activist has been arrested in Loveland, Colo. for allegedly carrying out a series of violent attacks on @Tesla property using incendiary devices.

Lucy Grace Nelson, a man, has been incorrectly booked into the jail as a “female” by @LarimerSheriff. I can… pic.twitter.com/TLDpCVcMlN

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) February 27, 2025

Police had already received similar reports on Jan. 29 and Feb. 2, but those incidents were less serious than the Feb. 7 attempted arson, they said.

“On Monday evening, Nelson again returned to Loveland Tesla while in possession of additional incendiary devices, along with materials attributed to vandalism,” Loveland Police said in a press release.

“Detectives apprehended Nelson prior to further damage occurring.”

Nelson was booked into the Larimer County Jail on the following charges: Explosives or Incendiary Devices Use During Felony, a Class 2 felony; Criminal Mischief $2,000 < $5,000 Business, a Class 6 felony; and Criminal Attempt to Commit Class 3 Felony, a Class 4 felony.

A judge issued a $100,000 cash surety bond for the alleged trans terrorist.

Police said they worked with the ATF on the case.

Mainstream media, including Fox News, was widely panned for reporting the suspect’s gender as female.

Dear everyone,

Lucy Grace Nelson aka Justin Thomas Nelson, is NOT a woman.

That’s a man @FoxNews

I thought we were done lying about transgenders and feeding into their delusions?

“Lucy” vandalized a Tesla dealership several times and brought incendiary devises. https://t.co/yT96kou0L9 pic.twitter.com/GWCwnjonj9

— Kristi L. Talmadge (@KristiTalmadge) February 27, 2025

Maine’s public schools are seeing their worst test scores in 30 years, with student performance in reading and math ranking among the lowest in the nation.

According to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics, only 33% of fourth graders are proficient in math, while just 26% meet reading standards. Older students fare even worse, with only 25% proficient in math and 26% in reading, placing Maine 38th nationwide.

The decline comes as schools prioritize the children of illegal migrants, a group welcomed by the state’s politicians and employers, according to Brietbart.

Maine spends approximately $15,000 per student—over $1,000 above the national average—yet its schools are struggling with an influx of non-English-speaking students.

The Democrat-led state has embraced sanctuary policies, contributing to a surge of mostly illegal migrants, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Over the past decade, the number of students with limited English proficiency has skyrocketed.

In Portland, 70% of new enrollees require special language instruction before tackling other subjects. Schools are diverting funds to hire multilingual staff, with classrooms now accommodating speakers of 57 different languages.

The Brietbart article says that education budgets are soaring nationwide as schools absorb a surge of migrant children under the Biden administration.

Like Maine, states across the country are redirecting funds to accommodate these students. In Pennsylvania, the number of English Language Learner (ELL) students jumped 40% from 71,766 in 2020 to 99,889 in 2024.

Meanwhile, academic performance is declining. Data from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CASPP) shows migrant students struggling, with only 24% meeting English standards, 15.8% proficient in math, and just 11.7% in science—figures that have remained largely stagnant.

By Michael Every of Rabobank

Love and Death

I look at the world this morning and wonder how to fit what is going on into two pages, for markets who prefer two bullet points of two words each. So, I turn to Woody Allen’s 1975 movie ‘Love and Death’, an homage to 19th century Russian literary genius, for help:

NATASHA: It’s a very complicated situation, Cousin Sonja. I’m in love with Alexei. He loves Alicia. Alicia’s having an affair with Lev. Lev loves Tatiana. Tatiana loves Simkin. Simkin loves me. I love Simkin, but in a different way than Alexei. Alexei loves Tatiana like a sister. Tatiana’s sister loves Trigorian like a brother. Trigorian’s brother is having an affair with my sister, who he likes physically, but not spiritually.

SONJA: Natasha, it’s getting a little late.

NATASHA: The firm of Mishkin and Mishkin is sleeping with the firm of Taskov and Taskov.

SONJA: Natasha, to love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer. Not to love is to suffer. To suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness… I hope you’re getting this down.

NATAHSA: I never want to marry. I just want to get divorced.

President Trump suggested 25% US tariffs on Mexico and Canada could be delayed to April, then aides said they begin as scheduled March 4; then Trump said the EU, “which was set up to screw us”, will get tariffed at 25% rate in April too. Those who want to see March becoming April, then May, etc., did, and MXN and CAD swung; others still see high US tariffs loom, and when they finally hit, it will be USD that rallies.

The Fed’s Bostic said the Fed Funds rate needs to stay where it is for now, and “We need to be in a restrictive posture.” The timing seems odd when DOGE is slashing and burning, and market fears about recession are rising again – but then again, so are consumer inflation expectations. With the US 10-year yield at 4.28% at the time of writing vs. a high of 4.79% on January 14, maybe the White House can live with that Fed stance… for now.

Ukraine says the minerals deal it’s to sign with the US depends on a security guarantee – which doesn’t seem guaranteed given it hasn’t been negotiated yet. 24-hours ago, the deal allowed Ukraine “to fight on”: does it? Uncomfortably for many analysts, the bottom layer of the Maslow –and current market– pyramid is not really AI, or love of profits, but fear of death.

EU Commission President Von der Leyen is pushing a pan-European defence mechanism for key platforms and loosening fiscal rules to allow defence spending. European leaders will meet in London on March 2 and Brussels on March 6 to discuss these joint plans.

VdL is also pushing a €100bn Clean Industrial Deal to go green, not khaki. However, EU bureaucratic acronyms take time to slot into place while steel and aluminium firms needed for the military face high energy costs and global competition, and defence doesn’t think about the environment or emissions in the green sense. As Politico puts it, ‘Europe’s impossible choice: Which industries should survive the green transition?’

Poland says if Germany doesn’t want US troops based there, it will take them instead, as Berlin says it wants independence from the US and moots an extra €200bn in defence spending. Fort Trump is calling.

Far-right Romanian presidential candidate Georgescu, whose first-round victory saw the election cancelled, has been detained on suspicion of false statements regarding campaign finance, illegal possession of weapons, and initiating or establishing an organization “with a fascist, racist or xenophobic” character. Will there be more US-EU tensions over this?

The US told Chevron to pull out of Venezuela, suggesting a hardline Monroe Doctrine, as whispers are that any loss of oil output on that front can be compensated for by the Middle East.

We got a bizarre video of golden Trump statues and bearded belly dancers in “Trump Gaza” posted on the US President’s social media account. Yet the ludicrousness of the imagery perhaps sent a serious message too: why has the region constantly defaulted to the equally ludicrous status quo ante? That’s as The Wall Street Journal reports, ‘A Decimated Hamas Prepares for a New Fight With Israel’.

Iran may now have enough processed uranium for six nuclear bombs, though we’ve heard similar for years: then again, previously Iran and Israel hadn’t already directly attacked each other, and Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria were in-between the two. Another source says autumn 2025 is the Israeli deadline for a strike on those sites if no deal can be agreed. Israel also insists on the demilitarisation of southern Syria, protecting Druze there and, at a stretch, potentially opening a corridor to the Kurds in the north. That’s as rumors are the Kurdish PKK may end their 40-year civil war vs Turkey, opening new possibilities for a post-civil war Syria.

Trump played his cards close to his chest over Taiwan in response to being asked if he would defend it, distancing himself from President Biden in that regard. However, if one looks at US actions and statements from Secretary of State Rubio, US grand macro strategy is now about looking to China. Almost everything we are seeing around us is still a reflection of that, from Ukraine to NATO to reaching out to Russia, to the new Monroe Doctrine, to tariffs to DOGE. The US will not just be singing ‘YMCA’ soon, but ‘In the Navy’, and songs from ‘South Pacific.’

Indeed, there’s lots more love-and-death geopolitics today:

• Financial Times editor Martin Wolf says the US is now “the enemy of the West”, as Jeff Bezos says the Washington Post is now for “personal liberties” and “free markets”, which seems quite Western to some – though context obviously matters.
• US and Russian representatives are in Istanbul to talk Ukraine without Ukraine or Europe. Martin Wolf adds Europe must rise to the current occasion or “disintegrate” and “be picked apart by world powers.” Indeed, markets are getting ahead of themselves on the Eastern front, failing to account for the risk that we get a frozen conflict in which the EU and Russia rearm for round two, rather than Russia selling Europe cheap gas and all watching Dr. Zhivago together.
• UK PM Starmer visits President Trump hoping for US support on Ukraine – not the “Can we have a free-trade deal, please?” mission he was originally hoping for.
• VdL visits India looking to make large friends, fast. Recall the US is now backing the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC), which works against China’s interests, and will offer huge gains to both ends, while requiring stability in the middle – including Iran, Syria, and Gaza.

Like I said, it’s all a lot to take in and too much one still has to leave out. But I leave you on the latter part of ‘Love and Death’:

BORIS: “How I got into this predicament I’ll never know. Absolutely incredible. To be executed for a crime I never committed. Of course, isn’t all mankind in the same boat? Isn’t all mankind ultimately executed for a crime it never committed? The difference is that all men go eventually, but I go six o’clock tomorrow morning. I was supposed to go at five o’clock, but I have a smart lawyer.”

The 401(k) millionaire club has surged in size, fueled by American exceptionalism and the meteoric rise of MAG7 stocks, which have skyrocketed over recent years amid the era of “The Next AI” theme.

Bloomberg cited new Fidelity Investments data showing that the number of 401(k) accounts with balances of $1 million or more jumped 27% to 537,000 in 2024.

The data showed that while 60% of Americans have access to 401(k)-type plans, most accounts hold less than $1 million—averaging around $131,000 at Fidelity—with steady contribution rates.

The growing size of the 401(k) millionaire club has been primarily because of the hockey-sticking Mag7 chart below—everyone loaded up on the same big tech stocks as US tech outshined China, Europe, and the rest of the world. 

However, newly minted 401(k) millionaires must remain vigilant of the “DeepSeek China moment“—a possible inflection point for the market that has shown US exceptionalism fading in recent weeks. 

There is so much grassroots excitement about AI, in iOS 18.3 Apple is forcefully including everyone into its AI product since nobody will do so on their own.

But yeah, $300BN in capex. pic.twitter.com/sjdDiXexMi

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 29, 2025

What could derail the MAG7 party and put those newly minted millionaires back into the poor house is if TD Cowen’s report on Microsoft data center order cancellations is accurate. MSFT fired back at Cowen, denouncing the claim… 

Microsoft “Strongly Refutes” Cowen Report It Is Canceling Data Center Orders… But Questions Linger https://t.co/2dBqZZ8TyQ

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 24, 2025

Even with the rising tide in equity markets, the inflation storm unleashed by the Biden-Harris administration has financially crushed low/mid-tier consumers, resulting in wealthy Americans trading down for Walmart in recent quarters. 

More from the Bloomberg report…

… something that has happened only 10 times since 1871 — survey after survey shows most Americans remain anxious about being able to afford a comfortable retirement.

“People have concerns about the economy, the rising cost of living, rising inflation — so the thinking is that they’re likely making some sort of change somewhere in their personal financial lives,” said Michael Shamrell, vice president of thought leadership at Fidelity. “But it looks like they’re not pulling back on their retirement savings.”

… 

For those behind on savings, members of Gen X have been making strides as they approach retirement age. About 14% made catch-up contributions and the cohort had a total savings rate of 15.2%, in line with what many financial advisers recommend. Additionally, those who have saved in 401(k)s for 15 years, with the same employer, saw average balances jump 18% to $589,400 last year.

Meanwhile, Gen Z savers, the oldest of whom are now 28, were no savings slouches, either. Members of that generation who have contributed to their 401(k) for five years saw average balances rise 66% to reach $52,900. Such a huge jump is likely due to having a high proportion of their savings in equities.

Overall, almost 40% of retirement savers bumped up their contribution rate last year, for an average increase of 2.9%. A chunk of that likely came from the use of auto-escalation plans, which automatically raise an employee’s contribution rate by 1% a year. About 90% of savers got a contribution from their employer, Fidelity said.

For those newly minted 401(k) millionaires, just hope the US exceptionalism theme does not continue fading…

… or otherwise, you’ll be back in the poor house. 

Update (1401ET): The ‘Epstein Files’ have been released – to a select group of journalists and influencers, so we don’t quite know what’s in them yet…

According to the NY Post, however, it’s a nothingburger (but stay tuned, as we’ll drop whatever’s good – if anything)…

A source who has reviewed the files said the release spans more than 100 pages, including a list of contacts without further context.

The person said the unveiling was likely to be a “disappointment” to sleuths eager for bombshell new evidence about the billionaire pedophile’s connection to prominent political and business leaders.

Former President Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Prince Andrew and President Trump are among the high-profile people who associated with Epstein — though Trump reportedly banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago in 2007 over an incident with a club member’s daughter.

A client list is not included in the initial release, which was compiled into binders describing the disclosure as “phase one” of the Epstein files, according to the source.

Earlier in the day the DOJ passed out binder copies of the “Epstein Files: Phase 1” to various people.

“This is just the start. AG Bondi confirmed there are thousands more Epstein File documents being secretly held in the SDNY and they will be delivered to the DOJ in DC by February 28,” wrote @DC_Draino who received a binder.

🚨Today I met with President Trump, VP JD Vance, AG Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel in the Oval Office

They handed me a binder copy of the Epstein Files

This is the most transparent administration in American history

The best part? This is just the start. AG Bondi… pic.twitter.com/A4MRVuPeVh

— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) February 27, 2025

PHASE 1 HAS BEGUNhttps://t.co/7G0yjsXHTo

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 27, 2025

Needless to say, the way this release been handled is not going over well…

I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today… A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein’s phonebook.

THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment.

GET US THE…

— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) February 27, 2025

“Hey everyone, I have a list of all the members of an ultra-powerful international pedophile ring. Make sure you hit that like and subscribe button.”

— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) February 27, 2025

*  *  *

Last week’s top selling items from ZH Store:

• ZeroHedge Multitool
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*  *  *

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Wednesday evening that she’s going to release DOJ files on dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

“You said last week that you had the Epstein files on your desk. When can we see them?” asked Fox News‘ Jesse Watters.

“Jesse, there are well over – this will make you sick, 200 victims. Well over… over 250 actually. So we have to make sure that their identity is protected, and their personal information. But other than that, I think tomorrow Jesse – breaking news right now, you’re going to see some Epstein information being released by my office.“

“What kind? Are we going to see who was on the flights? Are we going to see any evidence from what he recorded – because he had all of his homes wired with recording devices,” Watters asked.

“What you’re going to see, hopefully tomorrow, is a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information… it’s pretty sick what that man did,” Bondi continued.

Watch:

BREAKING NEWS: US Attorney General @PamBondi says we can expect brand new Jeffrey Epstein details TOMORROW. Expect flight logs and names… pic.twitter.com/dMn4nkKefV

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) February 27, 2025

Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender was found dead in a New York jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. While his death was rules a suicide, he was also good friends with the Clintons and several other high-profile figures such as Bill Gates, Britain’s Prince Andrew, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former Barclays CEO and ‘Disney princess‘ aficionado Jes Staley, Larry Summers, Harvey Weinstein, and former Victoria’s Secret boss Les Wexner.

Here are the flight logs which have already been released.

Media Room?

Watters’ question about recordings stems from earlier reporting that the deceased sex trafficker’s homes were wired with recording devices.

In late 2019, Jeffrey Epstein victim Maria Farmer alleged that the deceased pedophile had a “media room” on the first floor where high-profile johns were allegedly recorded having sex with women and children.

“So if you’re facing the house, there’s a window on the right that’s barred – that’s the room, the ‘media room’ is what he called it,” Farmer said. “And so there was a door that looked like an invisible door with all this limestone and everything and you push it and you go in and I saw all the cameras.”

Maria said: “What it was – was like old televisions basically, like stacked.“

“They were monitors inside this cabinet and there were men sitting here and I looked on the cameras and I saw toilet, toilet, bed, bed, toilet, bed.

“And I was like I’m never going to use the restroom here and I am never going to sleep here.” –The Sun

The claim was supported in a 2024 lawsuit by two women – Danielle Bensky and Jane Doe 3, who said Epstein employed a sophisticated system involving constant CCTV surveillance within his New York mansion.

Bondi’s appearance came hours after the DOJ appeared to give Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) the brush-off, telling her in a Wednesday letter that they are “reviewing your requests and look forward to engaging further to accommodate your oversight and legislative needs.”

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump suggested that he would be open to releasing the Epstein list, while Bondi said in November that anyone named in the documents who are “still fighting to keep their names private, Sean, they have no legal basis to do so unless they’re a child, a victim or a cooperating defendant.”

My office just received a formal response from the DOJ on the Jeffrey Epstein, JFK, MLK, & RFK files.

Read below👇 pic.twitter.com/gooBBQRlAq

— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) February 26, 2025

Last week Bondi told Fox News that she had the Epstein files “sitting on my desk right now to review.”

*  *  *

Last week’s top selling items from ZH Store:

• ZeroHedge Multitool
• ZeroHedge Dark Roast Coffee
• ZeroHedge Shirt
• IQ Biologix Astaxanthin
• ZeroHedge Hat
• IQ Biologix Colostrum

Use coupon code THANKYOU10 for 10% off

*  *  *

Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics,

The State Department is disputing reports that President Trump’s foreign aid freeze has halted a United Nations program in Mexico designed to prevent imported fentanyl chemicals and other narcotics precursors from reaching the country’s drug cartels.

Far from trying to end it, the State Department is working to extend and expand the initiative, a State Department official told RealClearPolitics Monday.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed a review of all foreign assistance programs, which has placed the training portion in a temporary limbo. While that review is taking place, Mexican officials who have already been trained are presumably using that expertise to continue to screen containers, according to the State Department official.

The program in question provided Mexico’s navy with training and equipment to improve the anti-narcotics screening of cargo entering and leaving the Port of Manzanillo, which is located on the Pacific Ocean and is one of the country’s busiest ports, responsible for handling cargo for the Mexico City area. The port also has served as an entry point for smugglers bringing in Chinese chemical precursors for fentanyl, methamphetamine, and synthetic opioids so the drugs can made in Mexican labs.

The project, known as the Container Control Programme, is a joint initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organization. The U.S. provided nearly $1 million to launch the project at the Port of Manzanillo in 2023. The initiative had already provided equipment and specialized training and was just two months from completion when the Trump freeze on foreign aid took effect Jan. 20, according to a State Department official.

Considering that the program had been going on for almost two years, Mexican officials who were already trained should have acquired the skills as to how to continue to inspect the containers even amid the pause on U.S. foreign assistance, the State Department pointed out.  

“We expect Mexican officials in Manzanillo to continue employing the expertise and equipment the U.S. government has provided to stop the flow of deadly drugs and precursor chemicals used in their production in Mexico,” the State Department official told RCP. “As neighbors, we must work together to address our most pressing challenges, including securing our borders and confronting the drug trafficking, alien smuggling, and arms trafficking that harm our communities.”

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Customs Organization, and the Mexican Foreign Ministry did not respond to RCP’s inquiries.

A Monday Reuters report, headlined “Trump aid freeze disrupts anti-narcotics program at Mexican ports,” claimed that the foreign aid freeze had stalled the Container Control Programme and paused a roll-out planned for two additional Mexican seaports – Lazaro Cardenas and Veracruz, which were to be added in February.

Over the last year, the program had already notched two major interdictions. Mexican authorities made several large seizures of chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine destined for the United States. The Mexican authorities intercepted 88 tons of precursor chemicals in July 2024 and another 25 tons in December 2024.

Funding for the container inspection training program was suspended Jan. 20 as part of Trump’s executive order reevaluating foreign assistance to programs that are “efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy” under Trump’s American First agenda, the State Department official noted.

The State Department has made exceptions for several of anti-narcotics programs, including $7.8 million in waivers for projects in Mexico funded by its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, or INL, to counter production and trafficking of fentanyl and to dismantle terrorist criminal organizations. The State Department, whose INL has an approximately $50 million total budget for Mexico, said additional waivers are under review, though it did not indicate which programs might get exceptions.

Trump has made stopping the flow of illegal fentanyl into the United States a top priority, threatening 25% tariffs on Mexican and most Canadian imports to pressure the two countries to do more to curb illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Last week, the State Department announced the designation of several Mexican entities, including the Sinaloa and the Jalisco New Generation cartels, as foreign terrorist organizations.

Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics’ national political correspondent.

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Homebuilder inventory of started and completed homes is soaring but sales are weak.

New Home Sales by Stage of Construction, chart by Mish

New Homes for Sale by Stage of Construction

• Total: 495,000. The most since December 2007.

• Started Plus Completed: 389,000. The most since May 2008.

• Under Construction: 274,000

• Completed: 115,000. The most since August 2009.

• Not Started: 106,000

Not started means vacant land. Started, and especially completed, represent speculative building.

New Home Sales Annualized vs Homes for Sale Detail

New Home Sales vs Stage of Construction, chart by Mish

New home sales are seasonally adjusted and annualized totals. The stage of construction numbers are seasonally adjusted but not annualized.

New Homes for Sale as Percent of New Home Sales

New Home by Stage of Construction as percent of new home sales, chart by Mish

Elevated for Sale Numbers

• Total: 75 Percent

• Under Construction or Complete: 59 percent

• Completed: 18 percent

The above is a new chart I added just today.

Amusingly, in the middle of the Great Recession, there were more homes for sale than the annualized number of new home sales. That number includes homes not started.

Not started homes represent a land commitment, whereas started and completed homes represent heightened speculation.

Unfortunately, this data series only dates to 1999, but the current numbers appear very elevated compared to the data we do have.

This rates to pressure prices unless demand picks up.

Note: The above charts and commentary pertain to new single-family homes. The following data represents all units under construction including multifamily.

Housing Units Under Construction

Housing Units Under Construction Detail

Housing units under construction, data from Census Department, chart by Mish

The number of units under construction is rapidly falling. It’s down from 1.71 million to 1.41 million, a decline of 17.7 percent.

In the Great Recession, the number of completed units topped at 1.42 million. So, this is a very elevated number.

However, most of this is multi-family in stark contrast to the Great Recession.

What’s Happening?

We are building apartments for immigrants who are here (legally or illegally) and others who aren’t going to get here because Trump effectively closed the border.

Completed units have not yet impacted the price of rent, at least renewals. How long can that last?

President Donald Trump is meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Thursday, to discuss an agenda including Ukraine, defense pending and probable US-proposed tariffs.

Trump has previewed he’ll likely be announcing a 25% tariff on goods from European Union countries, also amid ongoing US demands for NATO countries to rase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

The White House has been scene of a flurry of Ukraine-related diplomatic meetings this week. On Monday Trump hosted French President Emmanuel Macron, and things were deeply awkward.

Late last week Trump had declared that Starmer and Macron “haven’t done anything” to end the war in Ukraine, in Friday remarks responding to pushback out of Europe over his peace plan.

Starmer and Trump are set to clash on the question of security guarantees for Ukraine, after Washington has issued a clear ‘no’ when it comes to the possibility of NATO membership.

“I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We’re going to have Europe do that … Europe is their next-door neighbor,” Trump has stated.

As for the UK side and what the prime minister is expected to present in the Oval:

But on his plane, Starmer argued that a peace agreement would not be viable without such a US pledge. “I’m absolutely convinced that we need a lasting peace, not a ceasefire, and for that to happen we need security guarantees,” Starmer told reporters, according to Reuters.

Starmer is said to be looking for a US backstop: 

Starmer also said he’d press the US president for another undertaking he’s so far been loath to give – a “backstop” for a “reassurance” force Britain and France have said they are ready to send to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement. Europe’s militaries lack the logistical, intelligence and anti-aircraft missile assets needed to secure such a force on their own, without the US.

Starmer said en route to the US that “my concern is if there is a ceasefire without a backstop, it will simply give him (Putin) the opportunity to wait and to come again because his ambition in relation to Ukraine is pretty obvious, I think, for all to see.”

European leaders and officials have been complaining that Trump is too much in ‘Putin’s corner’ – and mainstream media has amplified such bogus claims as well, as the White House pushes a final peace settlement – but without Europe or Ukrainian representation.

Starmer is expected to plead for Trump not to ‘abandon’ Ukraine, even though it’s become clear to all that Ukraine cannot win this war, and will have to make serious concessions.

Will Thursday’s Trump-Starmer presser be as awkward as the Macron meeting?

Trump’s face when Macron says the US should be compensated by Russia, not Ukraine, because they started the war. 😂 pic.twitter.com/QCWt3vqyVh

— Parody Keir Starmer (@Parody_PM) February 24, 2025

President Zelensky will then be hosted at the White House on Friday, amid reports of a finalized rare earth minerals deal. However it’s anything but clear whether details will be agreed to and inked on paper.

Meanwhile, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff expressed optimism in a Fox interview. “I think it’s a really a good sign that President Zelenskyy will be here tomorrow,” Witkoff said. “The president is eager to get this behind us and move on to get a peace deal done between Ukraine and Russia.”