BY: Andrew Springer and Anthony Cifone, NOTICE News co-founders
Good morning! It’s Tuesday, February 17, 2026. In today’s newsletter:
New files reveal the FBI interviewed a credible underage Trump accuser
Bush TORCHES Trump in his Presidents’ Day message
Stories the algorithm is keeping out of your feed
⏱️ Estimated read time: 6 minutes, 55 seconds
⁉️ Questions? Comments? Just reply to this email!
Everyone’s Arguing About a 2026 Recession—Meanwhile, 70,819 Investors Found This Unexpected Hedge
The economy isn’t clearly breaking. But who would say it’s fine? GDP says one thing. Sentiment says another. Markets bounce up and down. Even the pros can’t agree on what comes next.
Here’s the thing. Most everyday investors often stick with what they know. Stocks. Bonds. Cash.
Few people understand one key principle. An investment is one decision. A portfolio is another.
Data suggests smart portfolios are built on different asset classes that don’t all react to the same forces.
There’s one that serious investors use to diversify that’s moved independently for decades.
Priced globally. Finite supply. Protected from flash crashes.
With Masterworks, you can fractionally invest in blue-chip art(!) without galleries or guesswork. Across their 26 exits, investors have already seen net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8% from works held longer than a year.
See why investors moved $1.3 billion into 500+ offerings:
*Investing involves risk. Past performance not indicative of future returns. See important disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.
TOP STORY
FBI Interviewed Credible Underage Trump Accuser, Bombshell Epstein File Reveals
The FBI interviewed a woman who credibly accused Donald Trump of sexually abusing her as a teenager—and the Justice Department buried it in a massive document dump while preemptively calling the allegations “unfounded and false.”
A 21-page FBI slideshow from the Epstein investigation, released Monday in the Justice Department’s file dump, reveals that agents followed up on a tip about Trump forcing an underage girl to perform oral sex on him after Jeffrey Epstein introduced them.
According to the document, the victim “stated Epstein introduced her to Trump who subsequently forced her head down to his exposed penis which she subsequently bit. In response, Trump punched her in the head and kicked her out.”
The alleged assault occurred between 1983 and 1985, when the accuser would have been 13 to 15 years old.
➡️ Question of the Day
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Longtime Civil Rights Icon, Dies at 84
Rev. Jesse Jackson—who marched with Dr. King, ran for president twice, and built the Rainbow Coalition—died Tuesday at 84. He registered millions of voters, negotiated hostage releases from dictators worldwide, and remained the most successful Black presidential candidate in history until Barack Obama—whose 2008 victory moved Jackson to tears in Grant Park. Read the full story→
MAGA Civil War Erupts Over Secret Plot Against Trump in Epstein Files
Steve Bannon told Jeffrey Epstein that Trump was “beyond borderline” and should be removed via the 25th Amendment, according to newly released DOJ texts from 2018—and now MAGA’s biggest names are tearing into one of their own. Read the full story→
WATCH: Stephen Colbert Goes Scorched Earth On CBS
Stephen Colbert exposed on air who CBS lawyers blocked him from interviewing—and then told him he couldn’t even mention the censorship. The network is preemptively enforcing Trump’s FCC chair’s threat to kill political interviews on late night TV, even though no such rule actually exists. CBS’s purely financial capitulation comes as Colbert’s show faces cancellation in May, conveniently timed with the network’s merger approval needs. Watch here→
George W. Bush Torches Trump in Presidents’ Day Message
George W. Bush published a Presidents’ Day essay praising George Washington’s humility, voluntary surrender of power, and “dignity and self-restraint”—qualities Trump conspicuously lacks. Bush cleverly never named Trump, but made the contrast impossible to miss. Read the full story→
Join our New Facebook Group: The Progressive Majority
The Progressive Majority is the newest Facebook community for progressives building the future we deserve—rooted in justice, equality, and real democracy. We share political news, organize grassroots action, discuss progressive policies, and support each other. Together, we're unstoppable. Join the group today →
🗳️ Yesterday’s poll results
On Friday we asked, do you think it's possible Ghislaine Maxwell was swapped out for a body double? 71% of you said “YES, they'll do anything to protect their own.”
susan said no: “Sheesh, really??? Jail will change a person’s looks. Especially when one is not used to bad food, bad clothes, no makeup.”
jiggleone said: “At one time , I would have said no, now nothing would surprise me, with this administration, you look at all the cover ups going on, it not that big of a stretch!”
mfgarrett said: “I voted no, but I wouldn't put it past them to do something crazy like that.”
capthonb said: “It's a test. The Trump body double is next.”
👀 Kept Out of Your Feed
Here are some stories the algorithms may be keeping out of your feed.
Trump suffered a humiliating Presidents Day defeat and we love to see it
Hakeem Jeffries gave the most awkward non-answer on abolishing ICE
CNN’s Harry Enten just delivered the midterm warning Trump really doesn’t want to hear
Republicans are suddenly very, very nervous about keeping the Senate
A GOP congressman is scrambling after his secret erotic poetry got exposed
New emails show Epstein sympathized with Kavanaugh during his confirmation
This GOP rep posted something truly vile about Muslims and dogs
Even MTG is warning MAGA is losing women over the Epstein scandal
Anderson Cooper is leaving 60 Minutes as CBS lurches right
The AP wants you to know how the rich hoard wealth (and pretend you can too!)
Steve Bannon, who called Epstein “God,” finally responds to the files
UK banks are planning a Visa/Mastercard alternative because of Trump
Trump’s latest Epstein denial is raising even more questions
IN DEPTH
How the GOP Became the Party of Elite Impunity: From Tax Cuts to Pedophile Protection
Here’s what keeps me up at night: For decades, some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people participated in a child sex trafficking ring.
The system knew.
And almost nobody has faced real consequences.
Think about that for a second. We’re living in a country that will tear a family apart for crossing an imaginary line, that will throw someone in prison for stealing groceries to feed their kids, that will ruin lives over unpaid parking tickets.
But the Epstein files—naming Trump over ONE MILLION TIMES, according to Rep. Jamie Raskin—remain largely redacted.
Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted child sex trafficker, got transferred to a cushy minimum-security prison where she’s reportedly “waited on hand and foot.”
And Trump is likely preparing to grant her clemency in exchange for testimony clearing his name.
This isn’t just another Trump scandal. It’s the perfect distillation of what the Republican Party has become: a protection racket for the ruling class.
This story continues for NOTICE members.
150,000+ readers trust us for the news CNN won't cover and the angles corporate media buries. Members get the full investigation—plus exclusive briefings, early access, and the satisfaction of funding journalism that fights back.
Try it free for 30 days · Cancel anytime