THE EPSTEIN FILES: Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, and former Harvard President Larry Summers. Those are some of the prominent men featured in 19 photos released by House Democrats from the trove of 95,000 images held by the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

  Also in the photos are Woody Allen, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor (the former Prince Andrew) as well as podcaster and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

  The photos do not show anything sexual and reveal nothing more than that the men knew Epstein and partied with him. Trump in one photo is shown with a half dozen women whose faces are blocked out.

  Some of the pictures are of sex toys and one is of a novelty condom with Trump’s face on the wrapper. EEEWWW.

  “These disturbing photos raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world,” said Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, in a statement. “We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, now.”

SPECIAL OPS: A private special operations team this week was involved with spiriting Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado out of the country to Norway where she hoped to accept the prize in person.  The venture required dodging military checkpoints and hours in a small boat on rough seas hoping not to be taken by the US military as a drug boat and hit with a missile. Machado was taken to a Caribbean island where a private plane was waiting.

  The 58-year-old Machado arrived in Oslo too late for the ceremony but was grateful to be safe.

SLIPPERY OIL: The oil tanker “Skipper” seized by the US carrying Venezuelan oil was involved in supporting Cuba, The NY Times reports. The paper says the ship offloaded part of its 2 million barrels of heavy crude to a smaller ship that went to Cuba. 

  The Times reports that Venezuela has been supporting Cuba in exchange for tens of thousands of medics, sports instructors and, increasingly, security professionals sent to Venezuela.

  The paper also says much of the oil Venezuela sells cheap to Cuba is re-sold to China for badly-needed cash.

THE REGIME: A federal grand jury in Virginia this week declined for a second time to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on charges of mortgage fraud. Under direction from President Trump the Justice Department has been trying to avenge James’s prosecution of Trump in New York. The NY Times article on this opened with the line, “Revenge, it turns out, is a dish best served with evidence.”

— The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit to stop the construction of President Trump’s ballroom at the White House and  force submission of his plans for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom to several bodies and Congress for review before construction can proceed.

— The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Fulton County, Georgia, over records related to the 2020 election, pushing Trump’s lie that his loss to Joe Biden was rigged.

  Citing a need to investigate “compliance with federal election law,” the lawsuit demands Georgia election officials turn over “all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County.”

  Fulton County has previously said those records are sealed and cannot be produced without a court order.

THE WAR ROOM: Germany accused Russia yesterday of cyberattacks, espionage, and disinformation campaigns to undermine the stability of the country in an indication that Russia is reaching beyond Ukraine with hostile activity.

  “For some time now, we have been observing a massive increase in threatening hybrid activity by Russia, ranging from disinformation campaigns to espionage and cyberattacks to attempts at sabotage,” said Martin Giese, a spokesman for the German foreign ministry, at a press briefing in Berlin. 

DOWNHILL RACER: American skier Lindsey Vonn at age 41 in the second year of a comeback won the women’s downhill World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland. 

  Vonn is now the oldest woman to win a World Cup race. With 83 wins on her record she hopes to win an Olympic medal in February. Skiing now with one artificial knee, Vonn is third in all time wins for both men and women.

THE SPIN RACK: Former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was arraigned yesterday on felony charges of home invasion and stalking then released with an ankle monitor and a requirement to have mental health treatment. Prosecutors say that shortly after Moore was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with a staff member this week, he barged into the home of his mistress threatening to kill himself saying, “My blood is on your hands.” — More than 250 people in South Carolina are under quarantine as a measles outbreak spreads. The US is coming close to losing measles elimination status as vaccine skepticism grows. — Britain’s King Charles gave an update on his cancer treatment saying he is responding well, but again without revealing what kind of cancer he has. He was diagnosed nearly two years ago.

BELOW THE FOLD: Once upon a time the Rose Bowl was the prestige post-season playoff for the country’s two best college football teams. Since then there has been a proliferation of bowls largely to make money.

  This year there are 35 bowl games with naming rights bought out by corporations and causes. One day former players will be able to tell their grandchildren they played in the: Pop-Tarts Bowl, ReliaQuest Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl, Cure Bowl, GameAbove Sports Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl, 68 Ventures Bowl, First Responder Bowl, Xbox Bowl, and our favorite, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.