Epstein Denials, Elmo Hacks, and ICE Theater
The Gaslight Keeps Burning
The Gaslight Gazette, a biweekly dispatch from the front lines of the information war, uses a critical media lens to examine stories and narratives in the news. The goal? To demonstrate what news literacy looks like when applied to current headlines—and to spotlight the falsehoods and propaganda that shape discourse in American media. Think of it as your BS firewall: a no-spin zone where lies get torched and truth takes the mic.
🔪 Character Assassination
This section chronicles some of the most pressing examples of character assassination from the previous two weeks. The Lab for Character Assassination and Reputation Politics (CARP) at George Mason University defines character assassination as "the deliberate destruction of an individual's reputation or credibility through character attacks."
The Epstein Deflection: When Character Assassination Backfires
Facing criticism from across the political spectrum over his handling of the Epstein files (see my full Epstein explainer for context), Trump hasn’t responded with transparency—he’s responded with character assassination. He labeled those asking questions “weaklings” duped by “fake news” and the Democrats’ “Epstein hoax.” Yet when pressed, the White House could not explain what, exactly, was a hoax.
In a rare move for any politician—especially one known for playing to his base—Trump even turned on his own supporters. Polls showed that nearly 70% of Americans believe he’s lying about the Epstein files, and Trump lashed out accordingly.
This marks a sharp reversal. Trump and his allies once promised to release the Epstein files. Now he dismisses the topic as “boring” or a partisan conspiracy. He refused calls for a Special Prosecutor and instead attacked the credibility of his critics—seemingly to get ahead of a Wall Street Journal report revealing a birthday message Trump allegedly sent Epstein, complete with crude sexual innuendo, a doodle, and references to “secrets.”
Trump and Don Jr. denied that Trump doodles or uses the type of language found in the note, which included the word “enigma.” But internet sleuths quickly surfaced multiple examples of Trump doing both. (Interestingly, Musk’s AI bot Grok reportedly claimed Trump had never used the word “enigma”—a claim later proven false by transcript evidence.)
Following the Journal story's publication, Trump filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and removed them from the press pool covering his trip to Scotland.
It’s clear the attacks on critics and journalists were part of an effort to assassinate the character of those demanding accountability. That strategy flopped. Now Trump is pivoting—he’s ordered the release of Grand Jury transcripts related to Epstein, while calling those who pressured him to act “lunatics.” But these are not the Epstein files. They represent just a small sliver. Given reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was previously instructed to flag any Epstein documents mentioning Trump, there's strong reason to believe this release will be incomplete—guaranteeing further speculation.
Meanwhile, a coalition of populists from both parties—Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY)—is pushing legislation to force full disclosure. That bill is set for debate this week.
Journalists are also intensifying their investigations with a series of blockbuster reports. First, a former Epstein girlfriend confirmed that Trump and Epstein shared a friendly relationship. On July 19, 2025, The New York Times reported that in 1993, Trump hosted a calendar girl competition at Mar-a-Lago and invited only one guest: Jeffrey Epstein. On July 20, 2025, The New York Times also reported that an Epstein accuser had told the FBI in 1996 and 2006 that Trump was involved in sex crimes with Epstein.
Trump is trying to deflect—arguing, while admitting he is in the files, that anything damaging to him should not be trusted because “So much of the things we found were fake with me.” He is also trying to distract the public by reviving the largely debunked "Russiagate" narrative, amplifying claims from his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that President Barack Obama initiated the story to influence the 2016 presidential election. In an apparent attempt to shift attention away from Epstein, Trump even posted an AI-generated deepfake video of Obama being arrested, set to the song “Y.M.C.A.”
If Trump can’t distract the public, these stories will keep coming. In fact, Julie K Brown, the award-winning investigative reporter for the Miami Herald who investigated the Epstein case, confirmed online that she has heard that “the WSJ article about the Trump letter to Epstein is just the tip of the iceberg. ‘The dam is breaking.’” The media smells blood. The audience is captivated. And if there’s substance behind the suspicions, Trump’s effort to kill the story with character attacks may only guarantee more headlines he can’t control.
💀FAKE NEWS
This section chronicles some of the most pressing examples of disinformation and fake news from the previous two weeks. I define fake news as information that appears to be real news but is baseless, inaccurate, misleading, or false.
Operation Optics: ICE Theater and the DHS Disinformation Playbook
On July 7, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stormed MacArthur Park in Los Angeles dressed in military gear. Though the government hailed it as a success involving nine agencies, reporting by Ken Klippenstein revealed that the operation was chaotic and largely performative. Agencies arrived late, coordination was poor, and many agents on the ground saw the mission as “unnecessary and even ridiculous.” The show of force appeared designed more for optics than results.
It is part of a larger strategy from this White House to obfuscate reality with misinformation and performance. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security has been engaged in what it refers to as "fact-checking” throughout Trump’s second term. Fact-checking itself is not inherently bad, but historically, when governments engage in fact-checking, it is often a ruse to control and shape the flow of information. That seems to be the case here, as the DHS’s fact-checking efforts lack basic credibility. They often cite so-called “fake news” without identifying the original source, and their rebuttals come with no citations—just vague denials. It's the kind of information void in which actual disinformation thrives.
Losing the Plot: Israel, U.S. Media, and the Collapse of the Official Story
Public opinion in the U.S. is shifting away from Israel. For the first time in decades, significant numbers of citizens across the political spectrum—humanitarian and anti-war leftists critical of Israel’s aggression, as well as “America First” and anti-war right-wingers suspicious of foreign entanglements—are expressing skepticism about U.S. support for Israel.
If popular culture is any indication of public sentiment, it is worth noting that many argue the latest Superman film is a critique of Israel—if true, a major shift in cultural sentiment.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has responded to this shift by blaming the U.S. news media—a common refrain from those losing the ability to shape public opinion. Netanyahu argues that American media is part of an “eighth front” in Israel’s war effort. Supporting this view, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee accused the U.S. news media of spreading "disinformation." Yet they offered no specifics about this alleged disinformation—an echo of tactics often used to shut down legitimate dissent.
More interesting is how these claims ignore research showing that U.S. corporate news media has long exhibited a pro-Israel bias—more so than Israeli outlets in some cases, especially since October 7, 2023. In fact, the federal government admitted to banning TikTok in part because it refused to conform to the pro-Israel narrative pushed by legacy media. Perhaps Netanyahu and Huckabee are conflating critical reporting with disinformation because it poses a barrier to their ideological goals.
Bots, Bigots, and Broken Platforms: Disinfo in the Age of Grok and Elmo
The disinformation landscape took a surreal turn this week. Elmo’s X (formerly Twitter) account was hacked and flooded with antisemitic content, including classic anti-Jewish tropes. At the same time, Elon Musk claimed on July 4 that his chatbot, Grok, had been “significantly improved.”
Users quickly discovered that “improvement” apparently meant “more white supremacist.” The bot began referring to itself as “MechaHitler” and made white supremacist statements such as, “The white man stands for innovation, grit, and not bending to PC nonsense.” This came just weeks after Grok spread conspiracy theories about “white genocide” in South Africa—unprompted.
Despite these red flags, the Pentagon signed a contract with Musk’s AI firm, even after these incidents became public.
🚫Censorship
This section chronicles some of the most pressing examples of censorship from the previous two weeks. Project Censored defines censorship as “the suppression of information, whether purposeful or not, by any method—including bias, omission, underreporting, or self-censorship—that prevents the public from fully knowing what is happening in society.”
The Silencing Machine: Media Cuts, Artist Threats, and Academic Purge
This week’s censorship roundup features familiar players and troubling patterns. Critics of Israel were once again targeted—this time through Trump’s sanctions on a United Nations official who spoke out against Israeli policies, and through Canary Mission, a shadowy pro-Israel website known for doxxing, which is now pushing for the deportation of pro-Palestinian academics.
Artists were also in the crosshairs. A Buffalo Newspaper Guild event was canceled after a local cartoonist received threats for a drawing about the Texas floods. The cartoon depicted a person drowning in MAGA gear, holding a “Help” sign, while a floating caption read: “Government is the problem, not the solution.”
Censorship remains a persistent threat to U.S. democracy. Some observers have speculated that CBS’s recent cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert may be tied to its parent company’s legal settlement with Donald Trump. While the exact motive is unclear, the timing is suspicious: the cancellation was announced just days after Colbert described the settlement as a “big fat bribe” on air.
What’s more clear is that the federal government’s move to slash public broadcasting funds—as part of a $9 billion cut to government spending—amounts to an attempt to censor independent and publicly funded journalism.
Framing
According to Project Censored’s Shealeigh Voitl and Andy Lee Roth, a news frame is the central storyline that shapes how information is presented and interpreted. Frames influence how we understand and judge the issues covered.
The July 4th Texas Floods: A Case Study in Media Framing
The deadly floods in Texas over the July 4th weekend—leaving at least 115 dead and more than 100 missing—exposed how news media often frame disasters through narrow partisan lenses.
Liberal outlets quickly blamed the tragedy on Trump-era federal cuts and climate change denial. The New York Times reported that hundreds of FEMA calls went unanswered, citing it as evidence that budget cuts cost lives. When a reporter loudly asked Trump about the criticism, he brushed it off, saying, “I can’t hear you,” and walked away.
Meanwhile, conservatives accused Democrats of politicizing the disaster. “This is not a political game,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt—before doing exactly that. The administration blamed Democrats for the flood, despite the fact it occurred in a Republican-led state, under a Republican federal government. Trump even said, “That was really the Biden setup,” before immediately walking it back: “I’m not blaming Biden.”
📚 Recommended Reading
This section features helpful resources and articles from the past two weeks for anyone looking to strengthen their media literacy skills and become more news-savvy.
Cyber Citizens: Saving Democracy with Digital Literacy by Heidi Boghosian
Next week on The Disinfo Detox, we’re joined by Heidi Boghosian to discuss her timely new book Cyber Citizens: Saving Democracy with Digital Literacy. A must-read for anyone trying to make sense of the intersection between media and politics, the book explores how our digital habits impact democracy—and what we can do about it. Boghosian offers a compelling case for why digital and civic literacy must go hand in hand in the fight to protect privacy, resist surveillance, and empower an informed public in the AI age.
🔦Spotlight: Media Literacy Resource
In this section I spotlight a new media literacy resource that I recommend for people who want to be more media literate.
Critical Media Project (CMP)
This week’s recommended media literacy resource is the Critical Media Project (CMP) — a free, educator-friendly resource designed for students ages 8–21. CMP is an outstanding platform for fostering critical thinking, empathy, and civic engagement through media analysis. Its mission is twofold: to help young people decode how media represents identity—across race, gender, class, sexuality, and more—and to empower them to tell their own stories and become active participants in society. Explore CMP at criticalmediaproject.org.
🎓What are Some Trustworthy Media Literacy Organizations and Resources?
For those who want more information and resources, the US is home to many thriving media literacy organizations. Click here to access recommended media literacy organizations and resources from NolanHigdon.com.
🚨NEW Episodes of Disinfo Detox Podcast
How the Ad Industry Shapes Your Mind — and What You Can Do About It | ft. Alessandra Di Lorenzo This week on The Disinfo Detox, we go behind the velvet rope of the advertising world with Alessandra Di Lorenzo — former ad industry insider and author of ADJUST: HOW TO SHAPE WHAT YOU THINK.
Epstein, Israel, Colbert Canceled & Public Media Defunded: Welcome to the Disinformation Age This week on The Disinfo Detox, we’re joined by powerhouse voices in media analysis Robin Andersen (Fordham University) and Mickey Huff (Project Censored, Park Center for Independent Media, Ithaca College).
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