This is the Nov. 18 edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
Louis Brandeis wrote that sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Congress will finally shine some sunlight on whatever is hidden inside the Epstein files. Today’s bipartisan vote may start the process of dragging decades of secrets, speculation and abuses of power into the light of day.
Now the question will be whether the White House once again misuses the Justice Department to open sham investigations that could seal the Epstein files for the rest of Trump’s term.
Some hopeful news from the United Nations yesterday: The normally hapless organization green-lit a plan that offers the Middle East something it hasn’t glimpsed since 1948 — a chance at peace. After horrific terrorist attacks and a gruesome war, could peace be at hand? Hopefully, but don’t count on Hamas to put down its weapons.
Today in “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe,” I’m answering a question from a reader asking about my favorite guitar — a topic I take as seriously as anything we debate on “Morning Joe” 🤣.
Read on for your daily dose of sunlight.
I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political. It is not about you. I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment.
FILES, FURY AND FALLOUT
A survivor of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein stood before the U.S. Capitol this morning, lifting a school photo of herself at age 14 — the age she met her sexual abuser.
“I was a child,” Jena-Lisa Jones said at the bipartisan press conference ahead of the highly anticipated House vote on releasing the remaining Epstein files. “I was in ninth grade. I was hopeful for life and what the future held for me.”
Jones told America’s political leaders — including the president she voted for — that transparency about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal should unify all Americans.
“Sexual abuse is not a Democratic issue. It is not a Republican issue. And it is not a hoax.”
Members of Congress praised the survivors for having the courage to speak about their shattered childhoods — while fighting to protect a generation of children from suffering the abuse they endured.
Survivors likewise praised the courage of lawmakers who crossed party lines at personal and political cost.
“This is America. This is the land of the free. I do not feel free today,” said Epstein survivor Haley Robson.
“I don’t know if the women behind me feel free today,” Robson said. “So I am begging every member of Congress, every representative, to step up and choose the survivors. Choose the children. Protect the children, all children.”
PEACE IN OUR TIME?
The United Nations made history yesterday, endorsing a sweeping U.S.-backed peace plan for Gaza with rare consensus among major world powers.
The U.N. Security Council authorized the first international peacekeeping force in Gaza and endorsed a conditional, if somewhat vague, path toward future Palestinian statehood. The resolution passed 13-0, with China and Russia abstaining from the historic vote.
The deal was crafted by Abraham Accords architect (and one of the president’s sons-in-law) Jared Kushner, who leveraged his sometimes-controversial contacts across the region to put together the peace plan.
Hamas leadership rejected the U.N. blueprint outright, saying in a statement that it ignored the political needs of the Palestinian people. The group, which launched the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israeli citizens, also said it would not disarm until there was “a political path that ensures the end of the occupation, the establishment of the state and self-determination.” Israeli officials, meanwhile, reiterated their opposition to any plan that includes Palestinian statehood.
In a Truth Social post, Donald Trump declared: “This will go down as one of the biggest approvals in the History of the United Nations, will lead to further Peace all over the World, and is a moment of true Historic proportion!”
The president’s social media posts aside, history suggests that it will be a long and rocky road to peace.
BELICHICK BENCHED?
A guest essay by Pablo Torre, MS NOW contributor and host of “Pablo Torre Finds Out”
I’ve been told that my ongoing coverage of Bill Belichick is beneath me — on account of the Ring camera videos and his girlfriend-business partner-momager Jordon Hudson — so I’m a bit hesitant to introduce myself to this august newsletter this way.
And yet: Hello.
The reason I’m still thinking about Belichick is not just because he remains, at $10 million a year, the highest-paid public employee in the state of North Carolina.
And it’s not just because his Tar Heels remain bad, at 4-6, having been blown out by Texas Christian University, the University of Central Florida and Clemson University.
I’m still thinking about the greatest football coach of all time because last Friday, on Instagram, Belichick unilaterally announced that he would not pursue the vacant job that once seemed perfect for him: head coach of the New York Giants.
“My commitment to the UNC Football program,” Belichick wrote, “has never waivered [sic].”
In fact, Belichick quipped, he was “on to Wake Forest” — the team that would go on to beat his Tar Heels, 28-12, the very next day.
But what happened on Saturday morning, hours before Wake Forest University won, was even more embarrassing, I think.
Because that’s when The Athletic reported on rumors that I too had heard: that Belichick had “never” actually been considered for the Giants job.
As one league executive had told me, NFL teams no longer trust the GOAT’s ability to surround himself with the right people.
North Carolina, clearly, felt differently.
The $10 million question is whether it should.
ONE LAST SHOT
Joe, as a fellow guitarist, I’d like to know what your favorite electric guitar is, and same for acoustic guitar. Thanks. — Robert G., Oak Park, Calif.
Wow. What a great question. After thinking through all the guitars I’ve owned over the years, I go back to a few of the first ones I ever played.
My favorite acoustic guitar is the one pictured here — an Alvarez acoustic I bought back in the ’80s. The signature came from Pete Townshend after I interviewed the famed guitarist on “Morning Joe.”
The big hole in the guitar’s side, ahem, arrived during a momentary burst of energy during a college gig.
Ahh, the joys of youth.
That Alvarez guitar is one of the few material items that carries an emotional attachment for me. I usually record on Martins, but I’ve probably written more than 400 songs on the Alvarez, and it’s followed me through the happiest and most challenging times of my life. Looking back, it was those down times when it came in most handy!
Favorite electric guitar: a black 1983 Fender Telecaster I bought in college that produces the purest American guitar sound I can find, especially when it’s playing through my old Fender Twin Reverb amp.
My favorite bass guitar was actually bought this century! It is a 1971 Fender Jazz Bass with old flatwound strings that are probably as old as the bass itself.
It sounds glorious.
CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE
SPILL IT!
This week, comedian Patton Oswalt joins us to discuss “Black Coffee and Ice Water,” his new Audible Original stand-up special. Want to ask a question? Send it over, and we will pick our favorite to ask on the show!
Former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., is co-host of MS NOW's "Morning Joe" alongside Mika Brzezinski — a show that Time magazine calls "revolutionary." In addition to his career in television, Joe is a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His most recent book is "The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics — and Can Again."