The Release of "The Epstein Files" Goes Wrong

I had planned to write more about the U.S. DOGE Service and Elon Musk today, but changed my mind. It's Friday. Let's do something fun. Instead of another description of how Musk and DOGE are destroying our government, I am going to provide a synopsis of one of the biggest letdowns since Geraldo Rivera opened Al Capone's vault and found it empty (to be fair, there were a couple of rusted cans inside). This was the release of "The Epstein Files" that has been promised for months. MAGAs have been drooling over the prospect of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein being made public. Cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump promised during the campaign to release the files, though perhaps because he remembered that he himself is mentioned in the documents, he backtracked somewhat and suggested that some might not be released. Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier this week that the files were on her desk and that she was preparing to release them. This much-anticipated event happened yesterday and, well, didn't go as planned.

Let me caveat this post by saying that I am somewhat new to the right-wing conspiracy theorist and Epstein files beat. There are much better sources for this story than me. If the Washington Post's Will Summer gets around to publishing anything, I'm sure that it will be definitive. In the meantime, his X feed is worth reading. Taylor Lorenz' Usermag also has a good article. This latest MAGA rug pull began when a group of 15 right-wing influencers were invited to the White House. The group that included Libs of TikTok’s Chaya Raichik and PizzaGater Mike Cernovich met with Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance. At some point, each was handed a binder prepared by Attorney General Pam Bondi that was said to include "The Epstein Files". Exiting the White House, the group was photographed waving the binders in the air and generally looking very excited. Members of the group began tweeting about revelations that were soon to come. Others, including "DC_Draino" and Chad Prather, posted word-for-word copy and pastes of talking points from a handout provided by the White House. This is when things started to go downhill.

To say that the influencers had been hoodwinked is to put it mildly. The binder, far from including bombshell revelations, was simply a repackaging of documents that have been public for years. There was nothing new. As everyone started to figure this out, a circular firing squad broke out among MAGAs. Influencers who had been left out of the meeting were quick to criticize those who had participated in the charade. All-around crazy person and sometime Trump sidekick Laura Loomer weighed in to say, "It [the binder] was released in an unprofessional manner with paid, partisan social media influencers to curate their binders for us." Loomer also claimed to have a photo of one of the attendees wearing a "Free Ghislaine" shirt and went on to write, "The White House and Pam Bondi invited a fan girl of Epstein’s associate to get 'exclusive' access to Epstein documents that have already been released."

Loomer was not alone. Podcaster and columnist Tony Kinnett wrote, "Releasing the files like this so it's a little photo op? Cringe. Childish. Not at all how a list of sex abusers should be released." He later went on to add, "Rote posting the proffered language from the office itself? How is this different than the legacy media?" Even some of those who had been at the White House started to backtrack. Lorenz quoted right-wing podcaster Liz Wheeler as saying, "We’re all waiting for juicy stuff. And that’s not what’s in this binder. That’s not what’s in this binder at all. And that’s exactly how the attorney general presented it to us." Wheeler was not the only one to blame Bondi for the fiasco. Loomer also joined those attacks. Noting that Bondi was previously the attorney general of Florida, Loomer suggested that Bondi had failed to do anything about Epstein when she had the chance. She went on to accuse Bondi of attempting to rewrite history.

Even the White House appears to have tried to distance itself from Bondi. Right-wing journalist Anthony Cabassa posted on X saying, "In talking with folks that attended the White House, and sources at the White House, it appears today’s #EpsteinFiles debacle is all the doing of a 'rogue' AG Pam Bondi who did NOT coordinate the release with the White House or members of Congress." Cabassa went on to add, "Additionally, I’m told AG Pam Bondi deliberately republished old Epstein files with President Trump’s name on them, for what reason, not sure." Republican Representative Jim Jordan's House Judiciary Committee's X account published a tweet claiming "Breaking: Epstein Files Released" with a link that Rickrolled anyone who clicked on it.

On the other hand, Bondi and her supporters attempted to shift blame to the FBI. Bondi sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel accusing FBI staff in New York of withholding Epstein documents. She demanded that the documents be delivered to her by 8 a.m. this morning. Provocateur Glenn Beck also got into the act, claiming, "WH [White House] tells me that they believe the usual suspects FBI/SDNY has the actual #EpsteinClientList and are refusing to turn it over. THIS IS AN INTERNAL CIVIL WAR if true."

One thing about conspiracy theorists is that when their conspiracy theories don't pan out, it is taken as evidence that the conspiracy is much more sinister and widespread than they had presumed. MAGAs, at heart, are conspiracy theorists. Therefore, many began to coalesce around the idea that "deep state" actors in the New York FBI office and the Southern District of New York attorney's office were conspiring to hide the Epstein files. As Lorenz notes, Business Insider’s Jacob Shamsian believes that Bondi will use this episode as an excuse to fire a number of FBI staff. The big question here, however, is why Bondi did not vet the material in the binders before distributing it? If she knowingly handed out previously released documents, she can hardly blame FBI deep staters. If she didn't know what she was handing out, she is revealing her own incompetence.

Summer, on X, suggested that Bondi was attempting to build credibility with social media influencers. Bondi judged correctly that the select group to whom she provided the binders would accept them uncritically and run with the message they were given. Almost all of the influencers demonstrated that, far from being the objective purveyors of truth they like to present themselves as, they are more than willing to act as White House mouthpieces. But this time it blew up in everyone's face. It is a sad day for everyone when Laura Loomer ends the day looking like the adult in the house.