Florida GOP rep comes after House’s WSJ subscription: ‘Filthy’
Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) wants the House to ditch any subscriptions it has to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) following the newspaper’s bombshell report Thursday that shed new light on President Trump’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I’ll be introducing legislation to end the House of Representatives subscription contract with the WSJ,” Fine wrote on the social platform X, hours after the report was published. “Americans shouldn’t be paying for disgusting and filthy rags.”
“I have also directed my entire staff to delete their taxpayer-funded WSJ accounts,” he added.
The WSJ reported this week that Trump signed a “bawdy” birthday note to Epstein in 2003 — years before the disgraced financier was accused of trafficking young girls for sex, died while awaiting federal trial and became a fixation of some of Trump’s diehard MAGA supporters and a public spectacle.
“Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the note read near Trump’s squiggled signature around a drawing of a naked woman, according to the WSJ.
Trump denied that he wrote the message, which the WSJ reported was included in a book of letters to Epstein for his 50th birthday. The president also threatened to sue the outlet owned by billionaire Rupert Murdoch for publishing the story.
Trump has urged allies to stop bringing up what he dubbed the “Epstein hoax” after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that its investigation determined Epstein did not keep a “client list” and died by suicide in prison.
“This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!” the president wrote in a post on his Truth Social website Thursday night.
The Trump administration, through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), took an ax to most taxpayer-funded media subscriptions earlier this year.
When a social media follower asked Fine on Friday why the federal government was paying for WSJ subscriptions, the first-term Florida congressman replied that it was a “great question.”
“I’m the new guy. Just got here three months ago,” Fine wrote. “I’m blown away by all the crazy things money gets spent on.”