Trump Freezes Wind Power, Epstein Files Look Like a Cover-Up

In this episode I focus on a major decision involving offshore wind projects already under construction along the East Coast and why the sudden halt has set off alarm bells well beyond the energy world. 

These were not future proposals but active projects with money workers and infrastructure already in place.

I look at what this move means for jobs regional power demand and electricity costs and why states that were counting on these projects now face serious uncertainty. 

The explanation offered by the Trump administration raises questions that deserve closer attention.

I also turn to the Justice Department’s release of Epstein related files and why the response has been anything but settled. After months of anticipation the release has intensified scrutiny instead of quieting it.

The issue is not just what was made public but how it was handled. Shifting redactions missing context and confusion around released materials have angered lawmakers survivors and legal observers across party lines.

I talk about why these reactions matter and what they suggest about unresolved accountability and trust in institutions that claim transparency while controlling what the public is allowed to see.

When decisions like these are made and explained this way, the effects do not end with a press cycle. They carry forward into jobs, energy costs, legal accountability, and whether the public believes the system is working for them or protecting itself.

This is A World Gone Mad. I’m Jeff Alan Wolf.

If you’d like to contribute with a small donation to my podcast before the holidays it would be appreciated.

As I’ve said multiple times, this is purely optional. 

But every little donation truly helps.

here is the link: 

https://ko-fi.com/aworldgonemad

AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Short Season Update And Fundraiser
• 1:33 Offshore Wind Freeze And Energy Impact
• 5:25 Virginia And New England Energy Stakes
• 6:21 DOJ’s Epstein Files Release
• 8:07 Motives Behind The Wind Reversal
• 9:40 Redactions, Errors, And Accountability
• 13:00 Legal Pressure And Survivors’ Anger

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

This is a world on match. This is a world on Mad Mad Mad.

SPEAKER_01: 0:09

I'm Jeff Allen Wolf. This is A World Gone Mad. Welcome to the Monday Fallout, Season 2, Episode 189, for those of you keeping track. Now I'm going to be doing something different from now through December 31st. Because of the holidays, 90% of you are not listening to any of my podcast episodes in the last month. So these remaining episodes are going to be shorter episodes for the rest of the year. And the TikTok live broadcasts that I was doing have stopped. I'll also have a major announcement at the end of the year about my podcast. Also, to all the Wolfpack listeners, I still have my holiday fundraiser for my podcast to help offset some of the costs associated with doing this podcast for two years. My initial goal is to raise$1,500 before the holidays by the end of the year. To those of you that have contributed, thank you. Those few dollars are a start. Any small amount from my listeners truly helps. Okay, let's get in all to all the craziness right from Donald and his supporters. Here we go. Over the weekend, Donald Trump froze every major offshore wind farm already under construction off the East Coast. Not ideas, not studies, actual projects with steel in the water, workers on the clock, and billions already spent. And the reason we're given is two magic words Trump knows people are trained not to question. National security. Say it slowly, say it vaguely, and then move on. We were told there are classified reports. We're told radar might be confused. We're told spinning blades and reflected light could somehow endanger the United States. No specifics, no public evidence, just trust us. Which is always reassuring when you're killing thousands of jobs and ripping the brakes off of the energy plans of half the country. Now here's the problem. These projects were already reviewed, already approved, signed off on by the Department of Defense before construction ever started. For years. The military didn't wake up Monday morning shocked to discover wind turbines exist. This wasn't a revelation. This wasn't a reversal. This was a complete change in the beginning. And reversals like this don't happen because of new facts. They happen because of old grudges. Take Virginia, one of the largest offshore wind projects in the nation, is already more than halfway built. It was designed to feed power into a state drowning in energy demand thanks to massive data centers and rising electricity costs. This wasn't some green vanity project. It was math. Supply meets demand, or at least it was supposed to. New England was counting on offshore wind for an even simpler reason. Geography. It sits at the end of the natural gas pipeline system. It imports fuel by ship like it's 1924. Electricity is expensive, infrastructure is limited. Offshore wind was a workaround for a region boxed in by reality. And the response from the administration is basically well, have you tried getting gas from Pennsylvania? As if pipelines appear when you clap hard enough. As if shipping fuel across the ocean is cheap or stable or somehow less risky than turbines sitting quietly offshore. What really gives us away is who's angry about the decision. Not just environmental groups, oil and gas groups, too. Companies that drill for a living have invested real money in offshore wind, real contacts, real American workers. And they're furious because this move tures jobs, freezes capital for no reason that they can point to. The government knew all of this going in and approved it anyway. So let's stop pretending this is about safety. Donald delusional Trump has hated offshore wind for years. He mocks it. He rants about it. He doesn't like how it looks. And now that personal obsession is being dressed up as new policy. You don't pull the rug out from under billions of dollars of construction. You don't threaten thousands of jobs. You don't jack up electricity prices across entire regions because something annoys you. That's not strategy. That's impulse control dressed up as authority. This country needs more energy, cheaper energy, reliable energy. It doesn't need leaders like Trump making decisions based on vibes and grudges and whatever cable segment pissed him off last. When the lights flicker, when the bills jump, when people ask how we ended up here, this is the answer. Alright, I want to talk about the Justice Department's release of the Epstein files. Yay, they released the Epstein files. Sarcasm, obviously, Wolfbeck listeners, and what questions their supposed release remain. The Justice Department finally dumped thousands of Epstein-related documents and photos on Friday. And after all the hype, all the breathless buildup, all the promises of transparency, what we got was a familiar feeling. A lot of paper, a lot of black ink, and almost zero accountability. Yes, there were new images, yes, there were documents the public had not physically seen before. But here's the uncomfortable truth. None of this actually changed what we already knew. Epstein was protected, powerful people orbited him, and the system had early warnings that it chose to ignore. Now, one of the most important confirmations buried in this release has nothing to do with celebrities or photos. It's about Maria Farmer. She went to law enforcement nearly 30 years ago. 30! And the FBI had a documented complaint in the mid-1990s describing stolen images of underage girls, threats, and alleged child pornography. That document sat there while Epstein kept operating. That is in hindsight. That's negligence in real time. And that's what makes this Epstein fire release so enraging. Because when survivors say the system failed them, this release doesn't refute that. It confirms it. In writing, with timestamps. Now let's talk about the part everyone clicks on. The photos. The Justice Department released images showing Epstein alongside with high-profile figures, including former President Bill Clinton, who appears in one widely circulated photo of him sitting in a hot tub next to a person whose face is redacted. The DOJ says that redacted individual is a victim of Epstein's abuse. Clinton has never been charged or accused by law enforcement of wrongdoing related to Epstein. And the department says its review found no evidence to justify investigations into uncharged third parties. Now the problem isn't the photo existing. It's that it was released with almost no context about when it was taken, where it was taken, or who else was present in the photo, leaving the public to fill in the blanks while the government shrugs. But if the goal was clarity, this release did the opposite. Files appeared and then disappeared. An image involving Trump was briefly pulled, then reposted. A massive grand jury report was first released, completely blacked out, then partially restored. Duplicate images show different redaction choices. That's not confidence inspiring. That's sloppy. At some point when documents vanish, reappear, change in real time, you stop calling it sloppiness and you start calling it what it looks like. A cover-up. Even the Justice Department admitted the process was vulnerable to human and machine error. That's not something you want to hear when you're dealing with victims of sexual abuse and decades of institutional failure. Lawmakers from both parties are furious, not performative furious, actually furious. Some of them went further and openly raised impeachment as a consequence if the Justice Department continues to withhold the Epstein files. The law they passed required all unclassified Epstein-related materials to be released. Not some, not eventually all. And what we got instead was a partial dump and a promise to come back later. To be clear about what the impeachment talk means, lawmakers were not threatening impeachment of Donald Trump. They were not naming Pam Bondi either. The threat was aimed at Justice Department leadership for failing to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Specifically, the failure to release all unclassified materials as the law requires. Impeachment was raised as a pressure tactic against DOJ officials responsible for withholding records, not against the president himself. Survivors are furious too. They say redactions are extreme, inconsistent, and unexplained. Some identities were protected, others weren't. People searching for their own histories were forced to dig through chaos created by the very agency claiming to protect them. So here's where we actually land. This wasn't disclosure of the Epstein files, it was choreography. The files were not fully released, despite what MAGA people will say online. The law required all unclassified Epstein-related material to be made public. And that did not happen. What we got was a managed partial dump, shifting redactions, disappearing documents, and a promise again to come back later. That's not transparency, that's control. The question now isn't what was in the files, it's what's still being protected or who. And who decided that protection mattered more than the law? Because someone always does. At some point when documents vanish, reappear, and change in real time, you stop calling it sloppiness. And I said before, you start calling it what it looks like. Once again, a cover-up. That's another episode of A World Gone Mad. And before, I did say that they were going to be shorter episodes until the end of the year, because a good majority of you are staying away from social media. Also, just a friendly reminder to all of the Wolfpack listeners: I'm still looking for more support in the way of a small donation. Don't let that word donation scare you. A few dollars here, a few dollars there helps me tremendously. I'm hoping that some of you out there will understand and will also please contribute. For two years, I've never asked anyone to pay for my podcast. And I'm not doing that now. Just asking for a little friendly help to allow me to get through the rest of the year. Thank you in advance. This is a World Gone Man. I'm Jeff Allen Wolf. I will be back Wednesday, yes, Christmas Eve. I will have another episode for you. Until then, Wolfback listeners, remain skeptical, keep focused, but most of all, stay hopeful.

unknown: 13:54

There is chaos in the world.

SPEAKER_00: 13:58

Can't you see? And we need to stand up and preserve our democracy. This is a world time. This is a world on the day.