A Lack of Transparency From the Justice Department, Bari Weiss’ CBS News; the Feds to Resume Student-Loan-Default Wage Garnishments–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Dec. 22, 2025

Indy Digest: Dec. 22, 2025

The word of the day: Transparency.

Regardless of your political beliefs or your opinion regarding a particular politician, transparency should be applauded—and any attempts to hide, restrict or redact information should be seen as a bright red, blinking warning sign. If there’s nothing to hide, why hide it?

This applies to two big news stories over the weekend. The first regards the newly released Epstein files—or, more specifically, the not-released files, and the released-then-unreleased files.

The New York Times reports:

The Justice Department came under intense scrutiny over the weekend for its initial release of files related to the investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender, even as it prepared to make public more material from the inquiries.

Some victims and advocates criticized the batch posted by the Justice Department on Friday as heavily redacted and containing few revelations. Some lawmakers asserted that the department’s failure to meet a 30-day deadline to release all of the files, as imposed by Congress last month, meant that the Trump administration had failed to adhere to the law.

After the initial release, the department removed from the online collection a small number of photographs from inside Mr. Epstein’s home. Among them was one showing a credenza with a number of pictures, including at least one of Mr. Trump, raising questions about whether the administration was seeking to shield the president. That image was later reposted by the department.

Time magazine said: “The incomplete release of the files and heavy redactions have drawn criticism from lawmakers and Epstein survivors. More than 500 pages of documents included in the initial release on Friday were completely blacked out. The DOJ said one 119-page grand jury document that had been entirely redacted in Friday’s release was released with ‘minimal redactions’ on Saturday. ‘Documents and photos will continue to be reviewed consistent with the law and with an abundance of caution for victims and their families,’ the DOJ said.”

Wired published a fantastic recap of what, exactly, was (and wasn’t) in the newly released files. Let’s see what else is revealed—and, perhaps more importantly, not revealed—in the coming days and weeks.

The second big news story does not directly involve a politician or government agency—but it involves CBS News, and a much-touted story that was pulled from 60 Minutes at the last minute. The government-transparency angle: This is a story that will no doubt displease the Trump administration, should it run. The Washington Post says:

The executive producer of “60 Minutes” responded to criticism after CBS News abruptly pulled a highly promoted segment on the Trump administration’s deportations, telling colleagues in a private meeting Monday that she stood by the investigation but could not allay the concerns of the network’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss.

“In the end, our editor in chief had a different vision for how the piece should be, and it came late in the process, and we were not in a position to address the notes,” said EP Tanya Simon, according to a partial transcript of the meeting obtained by The Washington Post. “We pushed back, we defended our story, but she wanted changes, and I ultimately had to comply.”

The segment was set to cover the Trump administration’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison and had been heavily promoted before its scheduled Sunday airdate. Employees say it was pulled Saturday night after Weiss asked for additional reporting, including an on-camera interview with a member of the Trump administration, according to a person familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution, and documents obtained by The Post. By Sunday, promotional materials for the segment including a trailer had been eliminated from the “60 Minutes” website.

The story had been cleared by the network’s usual process and was previously vetted by standards, legal and senior editors—including Weiss, according to Simon’s remarks.

The last-minute change has fueled internal tension at “60 Minutes” and CBS News, with some staffers arguing that the decision hamstrings the network’s reporters and others demanding a meeting with Weiss. The segment’s correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, called the decision “political” in an internal email to producers.

“If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient,” she wrote.

To elaborate: Alfonsi made multiple attempts to speak to the Trump administration, and they refused to comment. The New York Times says: “One of Ms. Weiss’s suggestions was to include a fresh interview with Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff and the architect of Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown, or a similarly high-ranking Trump administration official, two of the people said. Ms. Weiss provided contact information for Mr. Miller to the ’60 Minutes” staff. Ms. Weiss also questioned the use of the term “migrants” to describe the Venezuelan men who were deported, noting that they were in the United States illegally, two of the people said.”

Not good.

Will this piece on the CECOT ever see the light of day—at a time when the owner of CBS’ parent company is trying to acquire Warner Bros. via a hostile takeover? When President Trump has said he could get involved in that process?

Transparency—we aren’t getting it from the Justice Department, and we aren’t getting it from CBS News under Bari Weiss.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• The Coachella Valley is in the midst of another series of ICE raids. KESQ News Channel 3 reports: “Residents across the Coachella Valley are expressing concern after videos began circulating online that appear to show immigration enforcement activity in the area. Reginaldo Lopez, owner of Better Garden, said three of his employees were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Palm Springs on Wednesday. ‘Stressful and really sad because when my son got there they were already taken. The vehicle was abandoned at the gas station and then—like nothing. … One of them was my brother. The other two are like family to us because we work as a team to try to get things down.’ … Local leaders have also responded to the reports. Indio City Council member Oscar Ortiz took to social media to address concerns, noting that there have been multiple reports of detentions across the city.”

• Just after concluding his “A Gift of Love” performances, benefiting local nonprofits, at the McCallum Theatre, Barry Manilow has announced he will be undergoing surgery for lung cancer. The Associated Press reports: “Barry Manilow will be having surgery to remove a cancerous spot on his lung and will reschedule his January concerts, the singer announced Monday. Manilow, 82, said doctors found the cancer after he had an extended bout of bronchitis—six weeks, then a relapse of another five weeks. ‘My wonderful doctor ordered an MRI just to make sure that everything was OK,’ Manilow wrote on Instagram. ‘The MRI discovered a cancerous spot on my left lung that needs to be removed. It’s pure luck (and a great doctor) that it was found so early.’ The singer added that doctors don’t believe cancer has spread, so for now he expects ‘No chemo. No radiation. Just chicken soup and “I Love Lucy” reruns.’”

• Trump’s pardons of various criminals aren’t just letting convicted felons go free; they’re also cancelling restitution to victims. The Washington Post says: “By the time a federal judge in 2023 sentenced convicted fraudster Trevor Milton to four years in prison, Salt Lake City businessman Liejo Supoto had long given up hope of recovering the more than $100,000 he had invested in Milton’s hydrogen-powered truck company. Supoto didn’t know that a federal law requires certain criminal offenders to pay what’s called restitution to compensate their victims for losses. In Milton’s case, prosecutors argued that the former CEO of Nikola should pay investors $660 million. But before a judge had the chance to calculate and order restitution, President Donald Trump pardoned Milton—which in addition to sparing him any time behind bars also wiped away any financial penalties. … At least 20 people who have received clemency from Trump so far this year—cutting their sentence short, restoring their civil rights after imprisonment or allowing them to avoid prison altogether—were also forgiven of financial penalties totaling tens of millions of dollars. Some of these offenders owed money to real-life victims of fraud. Marian Morgan, for example, was sentenced in 2013 to nearly 34 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme and was ordered to pay $17.5 million to dozens of investors, most of which remains unpaid.“

• A state law essentially banning law enforcement officers from covering their faces is slated to go into effect in January. Our partners at Calmatters report: “The state law gives law enforcement officers a choice: If they cover their faces, they lose the ability to assert ‘qualified immunity,’ the doctrine that protects officers from individual liability for their actions. That means they can be sued for assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest or malicious prosecution, and the law adds a clause that says the minimum penalty for committing those offenses while wearing a mask is $10,000. Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez, a Los Angeles Democrat who co-authored the law, said it was necessary to rein in anonymous federal agents. ‘We initially were under the understanding that, oh, they’re only targeting folks who were not citizens,’ Gonzalez said, ‘And then actually over time you learn they don’t give a shit who you are, they’re attacking you no matter what, with no due process.’ The Trump administration has sued to block the bill, and more than a century of federal court precedent is on its side. An 1890 Supreme Court case provides that a state cannot prosecute a federal law enforcement officer acting in the course of their duties.”

• The Los Angeles Times reports on the difficulties that some graduating college students—even those at top schools like Stanford University—are facing in trying to find work: “A Stanford software engineering degree used to be a golden ticket. Artificial intelligence has devalued it to bronze, recent graduates say. The elite students are shocked by the lack of job offers as they finish studies at what is often ranked as the top university in America. When they were freshmen, ChatGPT hadn’t yet been released upon the world. Today, AI can code better than most humans. Top tech companies just don’t need as many fresh graduates. ‘Stanford computer science graduates are struggling to find entry-level jobs’ with the most prominent tech brands, said Jan Liphardt, associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University. ‘I think that’s crazy.’ While the rapidly advancing coding capabilities of generative AI have made experienced engineers more productive, they have also hobbled the job prospects of early-career software engineers.”

• Could Tesla sales come to an end in California, at least temporarily? KTVU (San Francisco) reports on the (remote) possibility: “For a decade, Tesla has sold drivers on the idea that its vehicles could nearly drive themselves. That messaging helped the company’s Fremont plant produce between 500,000 and 650,000 vehicles a year. But selling those cars in California may soon become more difficult. (Last) week, the California Department of Motor Vehicles threatened to ban Tesla vehicle sales in the state, saying the company’s marketing of its driver-assistance features is deceptive. ‘Most people wouldn’t think about the DMV intervening in something as substantial as Tesla sales, but the reality is that’s part of the DMV’s agreement,’ said Dr. Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. … In response to the DMV’s threat, Tesla wrote on X: ‘This was a “consumer protection” order about the use of the term “Autopilot” in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem. Sales in California will continue uninterrupted.’”

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