Trump and Epstein

I was about to start writing today when I noticed a New York Times article about newly released emails in which Jeffrey Epstein alleged that cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump knew about his conduct, which involved sex trafficking of underage girls. I changed my original plans and decided to address this topic instead. It is becoming increasingly clear that nearly the entire Republican establishment is engaged in a cover-up of Trump's involvement with Epstein, which may well have included sex with minors.

It is well-known that Trump and Epstein had a close relationship for many years. In tape-recorded conversations between Epstein and author Michael Wolff, Epstein said that "I was Donald’s closest friend for 10 years." In a 2002 New York magazine article, Trump was quoted as saying, "I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy" and that "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." However, Trump has denied being aware of Epstein's sex crimes during their friendship and claims when he learned of the accusations against Epstein, he banned him from Mar-a-Lago. More recently, Trump has said that Epstein "stole people," including Virginia Giuffre, from the Mar-a-Lago spa and that led to Trump telling Epstein he was "out of here."

Despite Trump's well-known relationship with Epstein, QAnon conspiracists and MAGA adherents have fixated on the so-called Epstein files that were collected during investigations of him. A popular belief was that among the files was a client list that would expose rich and powerful individuals as sex criminals. After Trump's election, two leading purveyors of allegations involving the Epstein files, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, were made first and second in command of the FBI, respectively. They promised to immediately release the Epstein files. Attorney General Pam Bondi also committed to releasing the files, at one point telling Fox News that the client list was "sitting on my desk." Bondi also staged a photo op in which she provided binders said to contain the Epstein files to a group of right-wing influencers. The influencers eventually figured out that the binders contained information that had been previously released. Bondi then accused the FBI of failing to provide her with all of the files.

As the New York Times reported, "Justice Department officials diverted hundreds of F.B.I. employees and federal prosecutors from their regular duties to go through the documents at least four times — including once to flag any references to Mr. Trump and other prominent figures." At the end of this process, the Justice Department and the FBI released a joint statement saying that the "systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list’" and that no information had been found that could lead to the charging of third parties. In other words, after all of that searching, investigators had come up blank. One wonders what had actually been sitting on Bondi's desk.

To say that many found this conclusion to be unbelievable would be a vast understatement. The same individuals who had previously accused the government of a cover-up, now that they were in government, were themselves accused of a cover-up. Critics across the political spectrum suggested that the Justice Department was trying to hide something contained in the files. This suspicion was strengthened when Elon Musk tweeted, but later deleted, that the files were not being released because Trump was in them. In the House of Representatives, Republican Thomas Massie authored a bill to release the files. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson refused to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. Massie then resorted to a maneuver known as a discharge petition in which the signatures of 218 House members would force a vote. Massie was able to get 217 signatures. In a special election in Arizona, Democrat Adelita Grijalva was elected and promised to be the 218th signature. Johnson refused to swear her in, and for 50 days she has been prevented from performing her duties. Johnson now says that he will swear her in today.

Once Grijalva signs the discharge petition, seven legislative days will have to pass. After that, Johnson will have two legislative days to schedule a vote. Assuming that all signatories to the petition vote in favor of it, the measure will pass the House and be sent to the Senate. More than likely, the Senate will simply let the measure die. If it were to pass the Senate, Trump would presumably veto it. Therefore, the primary outcome of Massie's effort will be a vigorous floor debate.

Epstein's sidekick, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of child sex trafficking and sentenced to prison. In July, Todd Blanche, the second-highest-ranking Justice Department official, met with Maxwell to discuss the Epstein case. Blanche, who previously was one of Trump's personal lawyers, asked Maxwell if she was aware of Trump's involvement in illegal activities, and she assured him that she had no such knowledge. Soon after the meeting, Maxwell was moved to a much more comfortable detention facility frequently referred to as "Club Fed." It has now been reported that Maxwell is being "pampered" in the facility, and the warden is actually assisting her in preparation of a commutation application with which she will appeal to Trump for her sentence to be commuted. It certainly appears that Maxwell may be receiving favors in return for her silence about Trump.

On the heels of all this, the House Democrats have released three emails involving Epstein that suggest that Trump was aware of his child sex trafficking activities. One of the emails was written by Epstein to Maxwell and in it, Epstein says that "i want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is trump.." It goes on to say that a victim whose name was redacted "spent hours at my house with him." Maxwell responded by saying "I have been thinking about that..." The damning part of this email is the claim that Trump spent hours with one of Epstein's victims. Both Epstein and Maxwell seem to understand that Trump knows about and is involved in their activities and are surprised that he has not come up in the investigation. This email was written in April 2011 when Trump had not yet started his quest for the presidency. 

Much of the second email is redacted but was written by Epstein to Michael Wolff. In it, Epstein claims that he was never a member of Mar-a-Lago and, therefore, Trump could not have asked him to resign. He then goes on to write, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop." This could simply refer to Trump's claim that Epstein was "stealing" girls from Mar-a-Lago and Trump had told him to stop. But, it could also refer to deeper knowledge of Epstein's activities by Trump.

The third email is another exchange between Epstein and Wolff. Wolff informed Epstein that Trump might be asked about his relationship with Epstein during a presidential debate. Epstein responded by asking if they should craft an answer for him and, if so, what it should be. Wolff advised him to let Trump "hang himself" because if Trump denied being on Epstein's plane or at his house, that would give Epstein leverage over Trump. That is exactly the same sort of leverage that Maxwell may have over Trump now.

Taken together, the three emails do not comprise an open and shut case against Trump. But they do suggest that Trump was more involved with Epstein's illicit activities than Trump has acknowledged. Given the volume of documents in the government's hands, it is likely that more will be revealed if Congress ever gets its hands on the entire archive of material.

In many ways, the Epstein controversy is a sideshow of the Trump administration. As Trump is hacking away at our democratic checks and balances, destroying what had been a robust economy, threatening war with countries on multiple continents, and taking away our healthcare, we have more important things about which to worry. But, it is increasingly likely that top Administration officials including Bondi, Patel, Blanche, and even Speaker Johnson are involved in a cover-up of Trump's involvement. This could turn out to be a classic case of the cover-up being worse than the crime. Or, it could be that the crime is simply so bad that the cover-up is necessary.