The Trump Administration Has a Problem of Epstein Proportions

Things have been going well for President Donald Trump since January, despite the media, the Democrats, and a handful of activist judges doing everything in their power – and sometimes beyond their power – to sabotage him. Apparently, most people think things are going well for America, too. The one big fat F on the Trump administration report card is for its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein affair. Investigations into the alleged sex trafficker date back to at least 2019, and the conspiracy theories almost as far. Whatever the truth may be, Team Trump has overpromised and underdelivered – not delivered at all, in fact – when it comes to handling public expectations of transparency and accountability.

Outside of the Department of Justice and perhaps a handful of other people, no one knows the real story. How much of a story is there? Several high-profile figures have been accused of playing a part in Epstein's crimes, but only one has been charged to date: Ghislaine Maxwell.

Which brings us to the famed (or fabled) Epstein client list. It seems quite strange that Epstein would have maintained a client list unless he intended to use it for leverage – blackmail – or as insurance. Whether they did so unintentionally or not, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel gave everyone the impression that this list might soon be made public, or at least that the veil would be lifted on what so many believe was a years-long cover-up.

Epstein Saga Comes to a Screeching Halt?

Abruptly, the American public has been told to move along, nothing to see here. Epstein did kill himself; there is no client list, and there will be no more investigations. Case closed. No further explanation. If there was ever a perfect way to throw gasoline on a conspiracy theory bonfire, this was it.

Left-wing media is already speculating that the Justice Department’s sudden about-face on this matter could be because, combing through the Epstein files, DOJ officials came across Trump’s name and so protecting the president became priority number one. It’s safe to assume that’s a laughable theory. The media, along with a great many powerful and well-connected Deep State operatives, have been out to crucify Trump for almost ten years. They have shown a willingness to go to any lengths to achieve that goal. If there were anything in those files that incriminated Trump – that could have been used to bring criminal charges against him or even to destroy his reputation – the entire country, the entire world, would long ago have been fully apprised of all the details through leaks to the media.

What are the chances that would not have happened if there were indeed a client list and Trump was on it? About the same as anyone’s chance of winning the lottery three weeks in a row or being struck by lightning while swimming – in an indoor pool.

Still, are there other prominent people connected to Epstein who are being protected? The public can be excused for believing it is likely, given Bondi’s remarkable transition from “the files are on my desk and I’m reviewing them,” to, basically, files? What files?

Trump Administration Clean-Up on Aisle Five

It seems the president himself thought he could just move on from this. But without at least some more clarity from the Justice Department on why it appears to have suddenly dropped the whole thing like a hot potato, an awful lot of people – many of them Trump supporters – are not going to be satisfied.

Then, on July 16, Trump may have salvaged things somewhat, after what can fairly be described as some ill-chosen comments on the subject. During an interview for the Just the News, No Noise television show, the president signaled his approval of a special counsel being appointed to investigate the weaponization of government. Could this special counsel look at the Epstein matter? “They've already looked at it,” Trump said, “and they are looking at it, and I think all they have to do is put out anything credible.”

And there it is. The public needs something credible. Whatever the truth, the Epstein thing – conspiracy, hoax, uninformed gossip, or whatever else there is – will not be fading away anytime soon. Not when Trump’s political enemies can use it against him.

Somehow, some way, the administration is going to have to clean this up. There may be nothing nefarious here, but the whole Epstein saga has taken on a life of its own, and if the president, the attorney general, and the FBI director want everyone to just get over it, there must be some degree of closure.

Is it possible that everyone – including Bondi, Patel, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino – who honestly believed there was a grand conspiracy to protect a host of wealthy and powerful sexual predators was all simply wrong? Yes, that’s a possibility. They bought into it, but once they saw the evidence for themselves, they realized there just wasn’t anything there. No list, no blackmail, no intelligence agency connections. Maybe it’s all been a big hoax, as Trump is now asserting.