What’s happening with Donald Trump and the Epstein Files

Within the week and a half for the reason that Justice Division launched a memo saying there’s no proof that indicted intercourse trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was murdered, that he by no means saved a “consumer listing,” and that the division doesn’t plan on releasing any new paperwork on the matter, the calls from throughout the political spectrum to “launch the Epstein Information” have solely grown louder.Rep. Hank Johnson, a Democrat from Georgia, launched a video of himself performing a parody of Jason Isbell’s “Dreamsicle.” Within the video, he sings in the next register than his usually bellowing voice, “Epstein died by suicide. Consider that and also you have to be blind. You’ve been telling us you’ll launch the recordsdata, however the place are they?” Home Speaker Mike Johnson had this to say concerning the so-called Epstein Information in an interview with conservative influencer and commentator Benny Johnson: “I agree with the sentiment that we have to put it on the market.”And naturally there’s the far-right political provocateur, podcaster, and conspiracy theorist Steve Bannon, who advised conservatives at Turning Level USA’s “Pupil Motion Summit” in Tampa, Florida, over the weekend that the “Epstein Information” may assist uncover extra than simply particular person offenses: “Epstein is a key that picks the lock on so many issues, not simply people, but additionally establishments, intelligence establishments, overseas governments, and who’s working with him on our intelligence equipment and in our authorities,” he stated.The one of us who seemingly don’t need to launch the complete findings of the investigation into Epstein are the 2 individuals who may snap their fingers and make them public: Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi and President Donald Trump.To grasp what’s happening, Right this moment, Defined co-host Sean Rameswaram spoke with Elie Honig, a former federal and state prosecutor and creator of the upcoming ebook, When You Come on the King: Inside DOJ’s Pursuit of the President, From Nixon to Trump.You’ll be able to learn an excerpt of their dialog, edited for size and readability, beneath, and hearken to the complete episode of Right this moment, Defined on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts.Should you’re somebody on the market who’s like, “launch the Epstein Information,” who ought to they be most mad at proper now that they don’t have their Epstein Information?I’m going to reply with a “what” reasonably than a “who.” The very first thing they need to be mad at is an historic DOJ coverage that claims, we DOJ, we federal prosecutors, don’t simply make public our closed investigative recordsdata as a result of individuals need to know.Individuals need to know numerous issues. Individuals need to see all of the closed recordsdata on the Trump instances. Individuals need to see each piece of paper from Robert Hur’s investigation of Joe Biden. Individuals need to see all the things from the Hunter Biden instances. However there’s a longstanding DOJ coverage and precept that has been noticed by each political events that we don’t flip these items over. We don’t slag individuals in public who can’t defend themselves, who aren’t charged with something, who don’t have the power to go to trial.Now hear, let me simply say that that coverage sucks generally. It’s very unsatisfying at instances. As a member of the general public and the media now, I hate that coverage. However it’s a longstanding coverage and it exists partly to offer DOJ prosecutors some cowl. There’s different good causes for it too. However I believe you need to begin with that coverage.What’s complicated individuals, I believe, about that coverage, not less than proper now, is one very particular second. The second the place the particular person in control of the division that doesn’t usually launch this sort of info stated that she would. Why would Pam Bondi say, “It’s sitting on my desk proper now to evaluation” if she didn’t intend to?I’ve no earthly thought. It may very well be that she’s incompetent. It may very well be that she doesn’t know what she’s doing. It may very well be she’s attempting to reply to the political winds of a given day or what she perceives to be the political winds or what she perceives to be Donald Trump’s greatest pursuits or needs.Pam Bondi has dealt with this complete state of affairs in an totally inexplicable, inconsistent, and I believe typically dishonest method. She blazes into workplace as lawyer basic and he or she principally by her actions makes clear: I don’t give a crap about that coverage that I simply talked about. I’m going to be turning this throughout. I’m going to interrupt the duvet off this factor and also you all are going to know all the things. And by the best way, it goes again. Should you bear in mind months in the past, Pam Bondi had her much-ballyhooed “section one disclosure,” proper?She known as all these conservative influencers to the White Home and gave them these thick binders labeled “The Epstein Information: Section I.” And also you’ve seen the photograph of individuals triumphantly holding up these recordsdata. Effectively, what occurred once they opened these binders? They realized it was crap. It was 200 pages of stuff that had principally already been on the market within the public that exposed nothing new.And possibly at that time, Pam Bondi hoped this sort of fades away. However she made it worse when she was requested awhile again on Fox Information concerning the consumer listing. She stated, “It’s on my desk, ready to be reviewed.” And now, final week, there’s an FBI memo saying, Nothing to see right here, all the things closed, everybody ought to shut up.Clearly when she stated “the consumer listing is on my desk,” it wasn’t. As a result of it seems there is no such thing as a consumer listing, per se. Now that doesn’t imply no person is implicated, however this notion that there’s some listing, there’s some piece of paper entitled Jeffrey Epstein’s consumer listing, one, two, three, appears to be fairly clearly an oversimplification. So I believe that’s the $64,000 query. Why this very sudden, very stark turnabout?Since we are able to’t essentially reply that query but, can we possibly reply the query of how Pam Bondi got here to be sitting on the prime of the USA Division of Justice?Pam Bondi on paper seemed like she was fairly certified to be the lawyer basic of the USA. She had been a prosecutor for [almost] 20 years. She was the lawyer basic of Florida, the state lawyer basic for 2 phrases, for eight years. Should you simply take that resume, I’d say, yeah, that’s really fairly corresponding to a number of different AGs.Maybe extra certified than, say, Matt Gaetz?Proper. Matt Gaetz had zero {qualifications}.The objections that had been lodged at Bondi associated to her independence and her credibility. Primarily, two issues: One is she has a protracted historical past with Trump. She has represented him briefly throughout considered one of his impeachments. They’ve had political assist for each other. That’s not that huge of a deal.The larger drawback, although, is she was and partly stays a 2020 election denier. After the 2020 election, nicely earlier than her nomination as AG, she was very vocal. She stated, We gained Pennsylvania. I’ve proof — by the best way, one other instance of her saying she has some piece of paper that she clearly doesn’t. She stated, we have now proof, we have now faux ballots that by no means surfaced. And when she was confronted about her election denial at her affirmation listening to in 2025, she fell again on the outdated line, the cop-out line of “Joe Biden is the president of the USA.” She wouldn’t disavow her prior election denialism. And so there was a query about her credibility.There’s been numerous writing that Pam Bondi has maybe introduced the Justice Division beneath Donald Trump in a means that we haven’t seen in many years. What do you suppose is the clearest proof of that?I believe that’s true and I believe it’s provable. If we predict again by way of the final many AGs, and by the best way, I’d embody Donald Trump’s prior AG, Invoice Barr, who by the best way, my first ebook is a criticism of Invoice Barr’s tenure as Trump’s AG known as Hatchet Man. However I believe Bondi is totally different and worse—As a result of even Invoice Barr didn’t consider the Large Lie.Barr had his traces. Bondi has no traces. And I’ll offer you one thing that to me was a very telling second for Pam Bondi. It’s been nearly forgotten already within the shuffle. The Sign scandal, when Mike Waltz and different officers — JD Vance and Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio — had been discussing a navy strike over the Sign app, proper?What does Pam Bondi do? And by the best way, we have now precedent for this. We’ve had comparable conditions of presidents probably mishandling or different excessive rating officers mishandling categorised info. Each time there’s not less than been an investigation opened, whether or not it was Hillary Clinton’s e mail, whether or not it was Joe Biden mishandling paperwork, whether or not it was Donald Trump mishandling paperwork. And so at a minimal, any modestly midway semi-independent AG would not less than say, we’re going to analyze, we’re going to resolve this, after which who is aware of, possibly come again in six months and say, alright, we checked out it and whereas individuals had been reckless, there was nothing fairly prison.Pam Bondi, in distinction, principally pronounces three days in, we’re not going to be investigating, nothing improper was carried out right here, none of that info was categorised, everybody ought to simply be cheering on the truth that this was a profitable navy strike. And that second confirmed us that she is totally at Trump’s beck and name and she is going to by no means deliberately do something opposite to Trump’s political pursuits.Like possibly launch the Epstein Information?There you go. That’s one of many theories on the market, that maybe there’s one thing in there that’s dangerous for Trump. And by the best way, who is aware of? However we do know Trump, it’s already been disclosed that Trump is within the handle ebook, the black ebook. There’s all kinds of cellphone numbers for Donald Trump and Mar-a-Lago in there. We all know they’re outdated pals.It is a type of forgotten second, however Donald Trump, some journal, I’m blanking on which one, did {a magazine} characteristic on Jeffrey Epstein years in the past, earlier than he had been convicted of any crime. And each Invoice Clinton and Donald Trump are quoted within the journal. And Trump’s quote is one thing like, He positive does like lovely ladies, even youthful than I do. I’m not getting it phrase for phrase, but it surely’s very near that. Would it not be surprising if there was one thing embarrassing for Donald Trump in these recordsdata? Or Invoice Clinton or whoever? No.Do you suppose the anger that’s directed at Pam Bondi proper now could be misdirected and in reality it must be going proper to the highest when Donald Trump is on the market clearly stating he has no need to see these recordsdata launched? To not point out he has beforehand made no secret of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.Let me put it this manner: Each the president and the lawyer basic have the facility, nearly with out query, to reveal no matter they need to disclose with a snap of the fingers. I imply, sure, look, they need to not do this for the explanations I stated earlier than. There are insurance policies towards this and I believe it was Pam Bondi who stated at one level, We’d must do redactions and there are victims. And sure, after all you’d have to guard victims and minors and redact out pornographic supplies and all that stuff. Nevertheless, any considered one of them does have the power to reveal no matter they deem match tonight in the event that they needed to.You suppose they’ll do it?I don’t suppose they’ll ever open the recordsdata and simply say, Right here you go, everyone. I believe they may attempt to appease the general public and the media by making some type of partial disclosure, however that’s not going to fulfill anyone.And Pam Bondi simply now reiterated she is sticking to that DOJ memo, which says principally, Nothing extra to see right here, no instances to be introduced, and case closed. Pam Bondi simply doubled down on that. She stated that’s our place and I’m not answering another questions. So if persons are questioning are we ever going to see a whole dump and full satisfaction, no, I don’t suppose that’s ever going to occur.