<Gasp!> Donald Trump lied
Whatever documents reveal of Trump’s role in Jeffery Epstein’s underage sex ring, Democrats have an opportunity to demand charges against any Epstein co-conspirators where evidence merits. And without regard to reputation, political connections, or net worth.
Many mentions of Donald Trump in the latest Epstein files release are from news items and unverified tips. Nonetheless, explains Sarah Fitzpatrick in The Atlantic, “one conclusion from the files is that Trump’s relationship with Epstein, a former friend, was of interest to federal law enforcement for years.” That, despite Trump’s claims that “I was never on Epstein’s Plane, or at his ‘stupid’ Island.” Investigative files just released dispute that claim.
Trump lied? What a shocker.
Fitzpatrick continues, “Representatives I spoke with told me their takeaway from reading the files is that top officials in the Trump administration have not been honest about what was in them, and that they intend to press Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel for more information.”
Bondi and Patel lied? It’s an epidemic.
Team Trump is circling the wagons. But what allies Trump retains as his pool drains is not as interesting or as significant as this:
Representatives and staff on the House Oversight Committee told me they were drafting subpoenas in response to the documents released yesterday, seeking more information related to law enforcement’s identification of 10 alleged “co-conspirators” shortly after Epstein’s arrest in July 2019. The case that prosecutors were building related to those unnamed co-conspirators appears to have been substantial. One document released yesterday is a November 2020 overview presented to the deputy attorney general from an acting U.S. attorney titled “Anticipated Charges and Investigative Steps.” But what, if any, next steps were taken remains a mystery: The rest of the page is redacted.
The revelations point to an opportunity for Democrats if only they choose to accept it.
Yes, Oversight Committee members are drafting a contempt resolution against Bondi (and possible impeachment) for failure to comply with the DOJ’s legal mandate to release all Epstein documents by Dec. 19. But many will see Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s call for DOJ accountability as partisan, simply more evidence of a broken political culture. Unless.
The New York Times this morning considers the challenge Democrats face in somehow rebranding themselves as disruptors and not simply defenders of the status quo. Polling shows “a majority of voters described Democrats as focused on ‘preserving the way government works,’ while only 20 percent said the same of Republicans.” Several of Democrats’ 2026 candidates are pitching themselves as reformers:
In some ways, the anti-establishment energy within the Democratic Party is reminiscent of the Tea Party movement, in which conservative activists channeled outrage over bank bailouts and right-wing animosity toward President Barack Obama into a wave of 2010 midterm victories.
“The Tea Party was against the status quo and for replacing it with nihilism,” argues Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist. “These candidates are against the status quo and for replacing it with something better.”
The T-party clearly saw Obama’s election as a threat to their preferred status quo. But the outrage and bitterness over the 2008 economic crash was real too. The government’s bi-partisan rush to put oxygen masks on the financial industry in first class while commoners riding in coach turned blue laid bare the two-tiered nature both of our economy and of our system of justice. Millions lost their homes and life savings during The Great Recession while Wall Street bankers received golden parachutes. Americans of all political leanings noticed the unequal treatment.
Epstein in 2007 won a non-prosecution deal (cut by Alex Acosta, then US attorney in Florida) that left him serving only 13 months (with work release) in state prison:
A draft 60-count indictment was set aside and Epstein avoided all federal charges. According to the Herald, prosecutors had identified three dozen victims. The victims of his criminal acts were not notified of the deal until after it was inked.
Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, received an unprecedented transfer from a federal prison in Florida to a “club fed” facility in Texas soon after her equally unprecedented interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, former personal attorney to Trump.
Again and again, Americans see plainly that U.S. justice provides valet service to the rich and powerful and harsh justice to commoners. They/we are pissed. Many celebrated the DOGE efforts to burn it all down.
The Times again:
The challenge Democrats face is how to simultaneously defend government institutions that Mr. Trump is trying to gut while also offering a forward-looking message that resonates with voters who believe politics and democracy are broken.
Democrats can prove themselves committed to fixing what’s broken starting now. They can demand justice — equal justice — for any of Epstein’s pals implicated by the evidence percolating out of Trump’s DOJ, and by impeaching any Trump lackeys who refuse that mission. If Democrats fail, they will prove themselves irredeemable and not part of the solution. Americans are watching.
Merry Christmas.
Happy Hollandaise!