The MAGA debate over releasing the Epstein files and testifies, while congressional Republicans

deliver a win for President Trump by clawing back $9 billion in foreign aid and public

media funding.

For analysis of the week, we turn to Brooks and Capehart.

That's New York Times columnist David Brooks and Jonathan K.hart, Associate Editor of the Washington Post.

It seems like this week, the biggest name this week, was dominated by a guy who's been dead

for six years. Jeffrey Epstein. David, what do you make of this? Why? I was looking at a study

this week. 20 years ago, there's an Australian think tank that analyzes which country has the technological lead in all sorts of different technologies.

And 20 years ago, America had the lead of the 64 most important technologies.

America had the lead in 60 of them.

Now, China has the lead in 57.

So we've seen a massive shift, the decline in American supremacy on all sorts of technological fronts and the rise of China. This is a major shift. And I'm spending two weeks thinking about Jeffrey Epstein. Like, this is crazy to me. It's like, and I have to take Canada like Candice Owen, the people who, like seriously, like the people who invented the QAnon theory, somehow all political

conversation revolves around them? As far as I can understand, and this has been looked into,

there seems to be no evidence so far that anybody can find that there is an Epstein list.

There are a lot of people, and the fact that Donald Trump knew Jeffrey Epstein back in the day

is the least surprising fact in American life. They were two rich guys with a little

playboy tendencies. But like a lot of people, Donald Trump had a fight with Epstein, apparently in 2004,

over real estate, and they broke. And Epstein was then arrested and indicted a couple years after

that. So a lot of people knew Jeffrey Epstein in those days, and a lot of people broke with him,

Bill Clinton, Les Wexner. And so to me, I just don't see the story there, unless you've got some crazy conspiracy theory, that there are a million peteras running around, which I do not believe there. Jonathan? Well, that's the thing. There are a lot of people believe that there are millions of peters running around out there who are part of the quote-unquote deep state and running the country. And the conspiracy theory

also says that these pedophiles are Democrats. And the problem the president has is that he

helped fan some of those flames. He was elected by people who believed

...