Enough Epstein, Already

Powerlineblog ^ | July 16, 2025 | John Hinderaker

[lasereye]

I have been meaning to write about the Jeffrey Epstein situation, which I think has become an unfortunate distraction. Thus, the New York Times headlines, “Trump’s base is in open revolt over the Epstein case.” This delights them.

In my opinion, while Epstein was obviously a horrific person and was at one time well-connected, the political dimensions of the scandal have been absurdly overblown. Current demands for a release of the “Epstein files,” which can only mean the investigative files prepared by law enforcement, are misguided. Raw criminal investigation files are never released publicly, for excellent reasons.

Any release of materials at this point could only be highly selective and would be improper even on that basis. And selective releases could never satisfy the conspiracy theorists, and would only fuel demands for more. So President Trump is right. It is time to move on.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Some promises are made without knowing how the facts. Then the promise needs to be walked back. MAGA needs to give President Trump the grace to do so.

Now that is a great piece of wisdom right there. I think you are exactly right.

[blackdog]

"Special Counsel. Offload it to a person who is totally trusted to weed out fact from fiction. Make it clear this will take time. Then shut up and stop talking to media so much and for pity sakes, quit blaming people who voted for you. Carefully weed out people giving you bad advice. Expose and shame dark players who seek to lead you and backstab you to back deep state desires in budget battles etc."

Welcome responsible forum adult! Agreed 100%. This doesn't disappear, becomes actionable in its own context and constraints, and ceases to be the distraction.

[PeterPrinciple]

Some promises are made without knowing how the facts. Then the promise needs to be walked back. MAGA needs to give President Trump the grace to do so.

---

well said.

[cgbg]

Kash called me a conspiracy theorist.

President Trump called me stupid.

I am kinda chill, but I am beginning to notice....

[RummyChick]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/top-senate-finance-democrat-says-210131525.html

"The senator himself told NOTUS, a digital news outlet, that he not only gave the Trump administration “a ready-made Epstein file,” but that he knows “for a fact that the Trump administration is sitting on an Epstein file that contains new actionable information, and they’ve done nothing with that, either.”"

Wyden alleges that he has also laid eyes on other documents — now in possession of the Trump Treasury Department — that “contain extensive information on the extent to which high-profile individuals paid Epstein staggering sums of money, which was then used to move women around the world or engage in dubious transactions indicative of money laundering.” https://www.yahoo.com/news/top-senate-finance-democrat-says-210131525.html

So if this is part of the fake hoax Epstein collusion claim he needs to look at the Dechert report ordered by Apollo executives that led to the resignation of Leon Black

He can find out whether these transactions are real or made up by the Senate Finance Committee as part of the Epstein hoax.

. This is going to blow up in his face when Dems get in charge if he doesnt start handling it.

If these transactions are not fake then it needs to be looked into as to whether the parties were laundering money

[mom.mom]

What? Hoax? Why was Epstein in jail? And then he kills himself over a hoax?

asked the STUPID maga girl.

[blackdog]

You sound like Ken Langone just this morning. He issued an apology for doubting Trumps goals and policies. He said based on results that Trump is something of a miracle after trashing him for years. He urged patience, restraint, and to ignore the media messaging, and to only measure the facts.

[bobbo666]

Yes, the precise point used by every guilty person who got away with it by bribes and coercion.

I don’t accept this. Just release everything you can and LIST everything that you cannot because of courts—it is not like anyone in MAGA is a fan of any court.

To do otherwise is to embrace the PERCEPTION that you are part of a coverup. d

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Gisselle Maxwell is in prison for sex trafficking underage girls. No sane person believe Epstein was the only abusing them.

That's not unreasonable. But then you go to...

That means there are dozens of rape victims and dozens of rich, powerful men that got with raping then, including Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and Bill Gates.

Just...no. Saying that there was more than just Epstein does not lead necessarily to "dozens", nor specifically to Clinton, or Gates. Although if I had to guess, Gates would be pretty high on my list of suspects. Prince Andrew is in a different boat because he's the only person who has been openly accused in a lawsuit of having molested someone under 18.

Here's the thing -- Virginia Giuffre, Andrew's accuser, was represented by a very high profile lawyer, and pro bono to boot. The 100+ "Jane Does" who sued Epstein personally for abuse back in 2009 also were represented by very high powered lawyers. So getting legal representation for any women who wish to bring lawsuits against a man other than Epstein who isn't a problem.

So the question is -- if there were so many other men knowingly abusing girls under the age of 18, why haven't any of them filed lawsuits? That is the critical question that has to be asked and at least tentatively answered before conspiracy stuff can get off the ground.

[StAnDeliver]

"Asmongold specifically said that he had not be contact by the Trump administration."

Because he is a WoW Twitch streamer. He has no more grip than Notch's ill-advised forays into 'politicks'. Notch learned quickly he was better off diving into his money like Scrooge McDuck than "influencing" -- which is just attention whoring and their pimp platforms.

Kirk has good patter but so what? And whatever he has done pales next to someone like Scott Pressler delivering PA in 2024 by registering 75,000 new GOP voters, most first timers, right down to the Amish who have a long history of avoiding/ignoring elections.

But when it comes right down to it, I dgaf about either any of them or what they flap their gums about -- Kirk is on his way to Posobiecing (Jack who? Jack shit), and Pressler is If-Geddy-Lee-Was-Slay-Qween.

No sir. The facts are, a Florida Federal inmate is the only person on this planet who knows every exact detail, but you won't get it out of her in a straight way without Gitmo, which is fine by me. Other than that, case closed.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

You sound like Ken Langone just this morning.

Had to look him up to remember who he was.

The problem is that most people don't really want to put in the work to understand even moderately complex issues. It's not that they couldn't understand it if they really tried. They just...don't. They get lazy, don't verify the stuff they read, and tend to adopt opinions and arguments that line up with their own preconceptions while ignoring any facts to the contrary.

There are a lot of issues all tied up with Epstein. I've had personal experience with efforts to protect identities and details of sexual assault victims, and it makes investigations much harder. Everybody wants transparency but there are all sorts of things that complicate that, and too many people just don't want to take the time to understand that.

So, we get massive sh*tshows like this one.

[kaktuskid]

Files get released..then what?
Fire Bondi..then what? Matt Gaetz supports her.
Would you trust the files..being they have been under control of a Democrat president for 4 years and may have been falsified?

[RummyChick]

He hasn’t said. Maybe he is talking about the Senate Finance Committee who has given the treasury dept. info they should be investigating.

Surely, Trump doesn’t believe the Dechert report is a Dem Hoax.

Dechert grossed $1,510,775,000 in 2024.

Senate Finance Committee wants to know why Dechert failed to find the money that they found was paid to Epstein. 12 million dollar difference.

To say that this is a made up hoax is ridiculous. Maybe Epstein’s services were worth 170 million dollars but I doubt it.

[dynoman]

She said those videos turned out to be child porn Epstein downloaded.

[blackdog]

Is there a point where Trump says, "I shouldn't have said that" and apologize with a revised statement, and Pam Bondi does the same?

A little humility goes a long way.

[Carl Vehse]

There seems to be a push to present this as an "either/or" issue: either the entire DOJ/FBI organizations focus on Epstein and his clients, or the entire DOJ/FBI organizations focus on terrorists, illegal aliens, Demonicrat corruption, traitorous justices. the DeepState swamp, and other Demonicrat wickedness that is destroying the U.S..

[PeterPrinciple]

To say that this is a made up hoax is ridiculous. Maybe Epstein’s services were worth 170 million dollars but I doubt it.

---

The made up hoax is what the media is doing.

So many have fallen for the shiny distraction.

There are so many more important things to do than this. Time and resources are limited.

[alternatives?]

Where are the girls? Threatened?, Killed?, NDA? You think more would have sued.

Where is Pizzagate?

There was a lot of smoke.

[RummyChick]

if any wants to read the actual settlement the Senate Finance Committee has it signed by Carol Thomas-Jacobs, Esq.
Acting Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands
. IT IS NOT A HOAX:

“Wyden is also releasing the $62 million settlement between Leon Black and the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which provided Black immunity from criminal prosecution in the USVI for his financial support of Jeffrey Epstein. Black’s settlement with the USVI explosively acknowledges that “Jeffrey Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands.” As part of the settlement, Black paid $62 million to obtain criminal immunity from Epstein matters not just for himself, but also for his attorneys and individuals acting as his agents.”

[pfflier]

Honestly, I’m sick of hearing about it as well.

I totally agree with you. The "list" is only tabloid material anyway.

Somewhere in all the noise it was missed that his female accomplice was just sentenced to 20 years today.