Ted Lieu: "allegations of Donald Trump raping children ... of Donald Trump threatening to kill children. "

[sheshe2]

Jon Cooper
‪@joncooper-us.bsky.social‬
Ted Lieu: “Donald Trump is in the Epstein files thousands and thousands of times. In those files, there are highly disturbing allegations of Donald Trump raping children … of Donald Trump threatening to kill children. So I encourage the press to go look at these allegations.”

Ted Lieu: “Donald Trump is in the Epstein files thousands and thousands of times. In those files, there are highly disturbing allegations of Donald Trump raping children … of Donald Trump threatening to kill children. So I encourage the press to go look at these allegations.”

— Jon Cooper (@joncooper-us.bsky.social) 2026-02-18T16:35:03.514Z

[Whyisthisstillclose]

1. Did anyone here ever imagine that we would see the US sink to a level

where a statement like this would have to be made?

[sheshe2]

2. No.

[leftstreet]

8. It's jarring

And each day more of it gets normalized

[bdamomma]

60. That is what

fascist governments count on to have people "normalize" these horrible acts. They want to wear us down, don't let them do it!!!!!! This hate and division must stop!!!!!!! I remember hearing or reading something like look up (metaphorically or figuratively) to that 1% who are manipulating us to look down on other people who are different in culture or their belief systems. I don't see anything wrong in a diverse society, one common bond we have is our blood is red!!!!

[durablend]

9. Did anyone here ever imagine that the media and a large part of the country are okay with it

[ChicagoTeamster]

12. I don't think they're okay with it, just don't believe it either because they're MAGA or can't accept such things happen

in America because they're naive

[Justice matters.]

23. Or they're 'scared' of retaliations.

The US is now run by a Crime Syndicate that has little to no respect of the rule of law.

A 'mafia' runs the state.

[bdamomma]

61. That mafia thug

needs to be knocked down off that wall!!!!!

[ificandream]

34. What a silly comment to suggest the media is ok with it.

The media has done a lot of reporting on Trump's sexual problems. But the media won't say anything they don't have proof for to keep themselves out of lawsuits, and you can't blame them for that.

[poozwah]

72. no

i have never been shocked by anything trump and his supporters do or advocate doing. how the media has reacted is shocking. the system that made media owners filthy rich is in danger and they are refusing to honestly and accurately report on the causes of that peril.

[MustLoveBeagles]

11. No

[Ol Janx Spirit]

13. Sink to? Sally Hemings might like a word. IMO the real hope was that we had finally risen above...

...this kind of thing.

John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams were the only two of the first twelve presidents who never owned slaves. As such you can rely on there having been all sorts of cruelty condoned--if not directly perpetrated--by those statesmen of the past.

Enslaved people, including children, were subjected to systemic sexual violence, physical abuse, and murder as methods of maintaining a racial hierarchy and generating profit. These acts were not legally considered crimes against the enslaved, as they were legally classified as property.
https://allin.tulane.edu/content/timeline-history-sexual-violence-us#:~:text=Content%20warning:%20sexual%20assault%2C%20anti-Blackness%2C%20racialized%20murder,they%20built%20crumbled%20after%20emancipation.

And, it is not a coincidence that the current Administration is trying to erase this history.

It is sad, but it is not altogether surprising that we would find ourselves under the yoke of cruelty once again. Human nature proves time and again that it is not as kind as I believe we like to think it is.

[Texin]

21. This kind of debauchery and cruelty are not new. All one needs is to remember about the Hellfire Club in England and

Ireland during the 18th century. I believe Ben Franklin wrote about it at one point. History is filled with examples of the wealthy elite and prominently place people across the globe engaging in behaviors akin to those that fill the Trumpstein files.

[obamanut2012]

27. Well, Franklin was a literal pedophile, so... he would know

[La Urraca]

46. I have not kniwn of this?

Is there a link to information?

[Wiz Imp]

67. The only reference I can find to this is an insane conspiracy theory website

Don't be fooled by the articles blasting Trump and Bondi, some of their stuff is truly dangerously insane (Anti-vax, anti-trans, anti-Fed Reserve, believe Tylenol causes autism, etc.). I would believe nothing from such a website.

https://fightingmonarch.com/2022/10/28/benjamin-franklin-was-a-child-molester/

https://fightingmonarch.com/

[tavernier]

42. I'm presently reading a book about Hollywood in the early movie industry.

Thousands of young girls were abused, in fact, it was quite well known that no big Hollywood mogul would even speak to an auditioning actress unless the casting coach was part of the deal because there were so many girls who were eager to achieve stardom. Of course, some had a choice and willingly went along with it, but there were thousands of others who were falsely led, often drugged, and became victims of abuse and rape once they found themselves alone with these predators. There are just certain kinds of men that feel that this is their God-given right as a male.

[bdamomma]

63. Insightful post

unfortunately true.

But your comment, got my attention to raise my BP.

There are just certain kinds of men that feel that this is their God-given right as a male.


Fuck that!!!!!!

[JustAnotherGen]

16. Yes - It's just no one

Ever had the guts to say things like this in Congress.

Fannie Lou Hamer comes to mind.

[Katinfl]

20. The statement is made but will the media ignore it? Probably.

[ificandream]

36. The media doesn't broadcast what they're investigating.

[Katinfl]

41. Investigating? trump? I doubt it.

[ificandream]

71. You don't know the media.

They are. As I said, they don't broadcast it.

[SheltieLover]

33. No, but I never expected to see a ruskie ASSet in the WH either, ruling like a mob boss.

[Tumbulu]

37. Absolutely yes, all you needed to do was listen to Limbaugh

in the ‘80’s. Which so many of us in rural areas warned constantly about. Where we are no was the obvious trajectory.

But we were ignored, and the effect of the right wing hate propaganda continues to be ignored.

I am pretty sadly sure that we are not going to recover as a nation from this, which of course was the plan by whoever funded this half a century campaign.

[blue_jay]

49. I never knew people in rural areas were warning about it

I first became aware of him on long drives across the country. Who were the deaf ears that didn't listen? Were they neighbors, local politicians or the people that ran the radio broadcasts? Kind of water under the bridge now but understanding what didn't work then might help create better tactics for future.

I tend to think it might link back to monied interests and the inherent lack of communication and understanding amongst all of the people in this country be they rural, suburban, city, etc. I imagine it would behoove us to find a way to bridge that divide, especially among like minded people.

[yobrault1]

54. ummm, yes.

the first time he was elected after the world heard him say "grab 'em by the pussy" and he still got elected.

[KPN]

58. Never ... until the last year. It's been clear for a while

that statements like this are in order .., and necessary frankly. Ted Lieu is a real American hero.

[vapor2]

65. HEAVENS NO

[Kid Berwyn]

3. Rep. Lieu and Congress must do the Press' job...

Otherwise, MAGA will see that nothing happens to the child-abusing rapist and traitor.

[BeyondGeography]

4. I want to give Ted Lieu a heart

He is steady, credible, serious and fearless.

This is a big deal.

[JustAnotherGen]

18. I think he should make a run

At Speaker next January. We are going to need someone with his grit. Jeffries is wonderful - but I don't think he's what we need right now.

[Upthevibe]

43. BeyondGeography........

Ted Lieu is my guy and he's been amazing from the very beginning..........

I wish he was born in the U.S. so that he could be a Presidential contender.

[dalton99a]

5. Kick

[Marcuse]

6. And the worst has already been expunged, redacted and deleted.

[ShazamIam]

7. Ted Lieu is correctly calling the victims children, not young women.

[Bayard]

10. I've been disappointed in Rachel Maddow lately

She spends half her show now covering pictures/video of protests. Believe me--I appreciate the hell out of all the protesters. But I don't she's covered the Epstein files at all.

[generalbetrayus]

14. I think she leaves the Epstein files to other late-night commentators. I'd rather hear Jen Psaki and especially

Lawrence O'Donnell rail against the Pervert of the United States (PotUS). Rachel is easily embarrassed to talk about such matters, at least in public. I appreciate her cheerleading for all the protest rallies - seeing them gives me hope for our future under Orange Julius Caesar.

[sheshe2]

56. Nichole Wallace is on the Epstein files every night

Tonight, she all over the deposition of Wexner at his mansion. I love watching her news hour.

[Grim Chieftain]

15. I agree

Rachel used to be "must see tv" for me, but now I much prefer Lawrence O'Donnell. He is fearless and calls out the Trump cabal on a nightly basis and doesn't mince words.

If ever there was a time we needed excellence in reporting, it's now.

[SheltieLover]

35. Maybe it makes her physically ill. This has that effect on some people. I'm one of them.

[TBF]

40. That or it could be a trigger for her -

unfortunately, as we saw with the "me too" movement, there is a lot of actual violence in the lives of girls and women in the us (and in the world for that matter). It could be a difficult subject for her to cover for personal reasons.

[SheltieLover]

44. Could be

Or maybe she is assigned to cover other stories

[Multichromatic]

17. U.S. media...

[Submariner]

19. and he just "Exonerated" himself yesterday

thank you Ted.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

22. Ted is not mincing words! Thank you, sir.

[angrychair]

24. I'm am going to keep saying this

WE. ARE. NOT. MAD. ENOUGH.

The fucking maga crowd have bitched for YEARS about these damn files.
The news media and far right podcasters have bitched about these files for YEARS.

Now that they are at least partially out, all of a sudden they are all pretty much quite and not saying shit or even worse, they are suddenly scrambling to make excuses or trying to redefine what being a pedophile and a baby eater are.

Even those that say they care about it have suddenly become muted or worse try to make excuses or imply it's not that bad.

We have actual government officials saying we can't go after everyone because the whole system would crash. Think about that. They are straight up telling you that they are going to protect people that have kidnapped, raped and murdered children because they need to protect the status que.
This is official government permission for wealthy people to rape and murder children because holding them accountable is inconvenient.

Let me be unequivocally clear: if a person even so much as exchanged emails with Epstein they should be beaten and dragged to a public square and burned alive.
That is where I stand and that should be the moderate, level headed position.

[AZJonnie]

55. Demanding the extrajudicial murder of people over mundane emails to Epstein is not "the moderate, level-headed position"

We have actual government officials saying we can't go after everyone because the whole system would crash

Who is this, and what is the exact quote and context? And why does their experience with the facts exceed that of the DoJ (including 4 years of Biden's DoJ)?

IMHO, people should read the whole of this "Epstein Files Deep Dive" article by the Associated Press (from 9 days ago). I'd also humbly suggest some might consider moderating some extreme positions they may be taking, but to each their own

https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-client-list-sex-trafficking-049c96080a2ca2c12c84ac506437e50b

From the 2019 FBI notes in the files, copied from the article:

While one Epstein victim made highly public claims that he “lent her” to his rich friends, agents couldn’t confirm that and found no other victims telling a similar story, the records said. (snip)

“No other victim has described being expressly directed by either Maxwell or Epstein to engage in sexual activity with other men” the memo said. (snip)

I'll add that much of this article may sound familiar if you've seen my many posts urging a degree of moderation on the whole "pedo cabal" conspiracy theory over the last 6 months

[Wiz Imp]

68. "agents couldn't confirm that and found no other victims telling a similar story,"

That may be true of "agents" in 2019, but it's completely false now. Numerous victims (amongst the group who have been pushing to get the files out and get some real accountablity) have made clear they were trafficked to many people.

“No other victim has described being expressly directed by either Maxwell or Epstein to engage in sexual activity with other men” the memo said.

That is blatantly false at this point. Practically all of the victims have claimed that is exactly what Maxwell and Epstein did.

[AZJonnie]

25. Ted, I love you man, but these allegations have been public since 2016

Believe me when I say I hate sounding like I'm defending Trump and I'm not saying he may not be guilty of similar crimes (he's CERTAINLY capable), but *that* case is the wrong one to be looking at for evidence thereof.

Much of the press concluded that the "Katie Johnson" (with "Tiffany Doe" acting as a witness) accusations against Trump & Epstein were a hoax 10 years ago, and there are MANY good reasons to believe that. So I doubt they'll change their minds about it, despite his urging.

I'm worried about seeing Lieu (a bit recklessly, IMHO) step into this particular pile of shit, because I LOVE that guy, and I don't want to see him possibly damage his great reputation.

[dpibel]

30. AZJonnie on the spot

"I hate to sound like I'm defending Trump, BUT..."

[AZJonnie]

57. I ignore many, many Epstein posts I disagree with, but on THIS topic, yes I will often comment

I don't like to see Democrats (esp. not those I really like like Ted Lieu) end up looking like they're hyping known hoaxes for political points.

You will find, if you come across what I say enough, I will consistently defend ANYone against false accusations NO MATTER HOW MUCH I HATE THEM, and yes that even includes Trump. Facts supersede politics for me.

Seems you perceive that to be flaw, I consider it a virtue, even if sometimes people question my motives

[dpibel]

62. Your definition of facts

You seem overly confident that the facts you are superseding with are, in fact, facts.

They are no more than your conclusions, based on incomplete evidence. Pretty much like everyone else's claims.

It's just that your conclusions seem so frequently to align with malign interests.

And, you should note, Lieu didn't say anything more than that there is evidence. There is. You deem it to be evidence without credence. That does not remove it from the realm of evidence.

[AZJonnie]

70. You happen to take notice when my conclusions appear to do so

But if you wanted to, you would also find I'm here nearly every day, for hours, bashing the entire fascist GQP regime, and especially IQ47. So your insinuation that I have ulterior motives when I VERY occasionally buck that trend, is not really appreciated.

I will say though I do appreciate the pedantic nature of what you had to say here (for real, see my sig line ):

And, you should note, Lieu didn't say anything more than that there is evidence. There is. You deem it to be evidence without credence. That does not remove it from the realm of evidence.

My retort: it seems our definition of "evidence" is different, because I do not consider claims from an abandoned anonymous lawsuit (and staged-looking video "testimony" produced in conjunction with it) to be "evidence". The proper word would be "claims" or "allegations", IMHO. Had he used one of those words, we wouldn't be having this conversation

I GREATLY admire and LOVE 99% of everything Lieu ever says, but here he's overstating the certainty level (evidence being a stronger word than allegation) and I'm disappointed it doesn't seem like he did his research.

Now, I realize I would be better served if I could get a message to Lieu directly, but the odds that I could actually do so are slim, so I said my piece here.

[questionseverything]

64. It's his job evidently

[EdmondDantes_]

50. If Lieu is talking about the anonymous tips that we've seen

It's not really possible to investigate due to lack of details. Obviously we don't know if that's what he's talking about, but he didn't provide details.

We've seen people shooting a pizza place, aCDC building, and storming the capital building because of allegations. As much as I would love to be rid of Trump, I'm skeptical of uncorroborated allegations and of we can't tell you, but it's awful claims.

[Initech]

26. It's insane that Stephen Colbert gets fired...

But the psychotically deranged lunatic child rapist continues to fail upward and get his name and face put on everything. WTF are we doing right now?

[Grim Chieftain]

28. Child rape, sexual assault, thirty-four felonies

The list goes on and on, and yet there he is, in the White House, which he is destroying in more ways than one.
What the hell has happened to this country? How can he get away with all of this? Where is the outrage?

And since I'm on a rant - I don't want to hear about another "No Kings" rally. It's far, far worse than that. We need to have a "Lock Him Up" rally, a "25th Amendment" rally. an "Impeach the Criminal" rally. To hell with the kings tripe.

He has to go asap to save our country!

[Ilsa]

45. I think that will be my sign at the next protest.

Since you mentioned rants, my biggest rant has been about the constant texts I'm getting from No Kings about attending March 28. I answered "yes" even though it's too far ahead for me to plan. I think they are more about leading me to Paypal, etc, though.

[Initech]

47. And so does his worthless fucking family.

Shit, Lara Trump was on Fox News bragging about how they want to stay in power indefinitely. Fucking hell no! We don't do that sort of thing in this country. These shitheads need to be expelled now before they do any further damage.

[Grim Chieftain]

48. Could not agree more

People better wake up to how dangerous the Trump cabal is.

[spanone]

29. Our media is not concerned about Epstein at all.

[hamsterjill]

31. It's surprising to me how much control there actually is over the media right now.

Gone are the days of "getting the scoop" and selling copy. I lived through Watergate and that was what got it published. Getting the scoop and selling papers! One newspaper outdoing all the others.

Where is that concept any more? It's all cable news and subscription services.

It's going to take some hard working (and I do mean HARD working), intelligent, well connected INDEPENDENT journalists to get this story out there. Right now, I haven't seen any of them who are willing to put forth the effort, the time and expense to force it into view by the general populace.

Am I wrong???? Because I'd love to be.

[Torchlight]

38. WTG Rep. Lieu! For a story that was six months ago declared dead on arrival

Last edited Wed Feb 18, 2026, 04:47 PM - Edit history (1)

by some of the best brains in the universe (or so it was advertised by those very brains, no less), this story certainly seems to be hanging on, metastasizing and foiling the best narratives to make it look like something it's not.

Each passing day, the mid-terms look brighter and brighter (while the sealions of the world continue looking more and more sad as they dig in harder and harder) .

[C Moon]

39. The U.S. needs more Bob Woodwards and Carl Bernsteins.

[SheltieLover]

51. And moscow mitch thought Kamala "would be our worst nightmare!"

[czarjak]

52. Never forget Rule#1

“If rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it.”
Without Fail2

[awesomerwb1]

53. That's better Ted

Imagine the names fox news and the magapublicans would be calling Biden if it was him thousands of times in the Epstein files instead.

[Joinfortmill]

66. Jeezus

[Swede]

69. Oh, Trump is gonna sue his ass off...

Or he'll bomb Iran

.