All posts tagged "jeffrey epstein"

Trump plans to exploit loophole to 'classify' swathes of Epstein files: biographer

Donald Trump is looking at ways that he could "classify" huge parts of the Jeffrey Epstein files through a loophole, according to his biographer Michael Wolff.

The writer, who spend months inside the White House during Trump's first term, believes the president could still effectively prevent the public release of files. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 427 to 1 to release the files, with the Senate unanimously voting to support that resolution. Trump signed the bill into law, a U-turn from his previous position on the files being a "Democratic hoax".

But the files could remain outside of the public eye should Trump use a loophole that Wolff has said would completely undermine the release. Speaking on The Daily Beast's Inside Trump's Head podcast, he said, "They don’t have to turn over files which are relevant to an ongoing investigation.

"Everything can be an ongoing investigation. Nor do they have to turn over files that are classified. And, basically, they can classify anything. So hell, what are we left with?"

"Basically you can classify anything. Whether that would hold up in a court is kind of irrelevant. Could you argue that that’s part of an ongoing investigation?

"Well, there’s an ongoing investigation of all of Epstein’s crimes. Is that related to that? And do you have to justify that? That’s also not clear. Or by the time you justify that, everything has moved on anyway."

Wolff went on to suggest that what feels like a major turning point in releasing the files could be more of a marginal move than anything else.

He added, "We have only marginally moved off the place where we were before there was this legislation. Trump is in charge and it almost is worse because what he will do now, of course, is release aspects of these files that incriminate other people."

Trump is unraveling elsewhere too, according to an analyst who believes the president is being dogged by his economic policies. Alex Shephard of The New Republic suggested the president's past "month of humiliations and stinging defeats" has been disastrous for the administration, and that a failure on one key issue is affecting him most of all.

Shephard wrote, "High costs destroyed Biden’s presidency, and they’re destroying Trump’s now too."

"He seems to understand this, because he’s unraveling. His public statements have become increasingly volatile and erratic." Trump has been taken to task by Democrats and Republicans on his response to the cost-of-living crisis.

Trump's Epstein fiasco makes sense if you remember this insanity at the heart of MAGA

In July, I said the president triggered a crisis of faith in MAGA. It had been revealed that the US Department of Justice would not release files concerning the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. With that decision, Donald Trump made his most zealous followers choose between him and their imaginary enemies. Since they were never going to stop believing in evil super-Jews conspiring against “real Americans,” he forced them to rethink their trust in him.

On Monday, we saw concrete consequences of that crisis.

Trump spent last week pressuring two key House Republicans, Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert, to vote against a measure leading to the release of the Epstein files. He summoned them to the Situation Room, along with the US attorney general and FBI director. (This was after Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned the House for nearly two months during the shutdown and refused to swear in Arizona’s Adelita Grijalva. She had vowed to be the 218th vote on the Epstein discharge petition.)

Then Friday, Trump attacked the Republican who is probably the most MAGA of all MAGA, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. He said he was taking back “his support and endorsement.” He called her a “lunatic.” He offered “complete and unyielding support” for anyone who would primary her. In another post, he called Greene a “RINO,” who had “betrayed the entire Republican Party when she turned Left.”

Greene did not back down from calling for the release of the Epstein files.

“It really makes you wonder what is in those files and who and what country is putting so much pressure on him,” she said. “I forgive him and I will pray for him to return to his original MAGA promises.”

Then Trump retreated. Early Monday, he said, “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files. We have nothing to hide.”

If that’s true, he could order the Justice Department to release the files.

Some are saying Greene is coming to her senses. Others are saying there’s a place for her among the Democrats.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Greene isn’t standing up to Trump. She’s exploiting the crisis of faith that he has created. She’s taking command of the story that brought him to power. She doesn’t care about sex-crime victims. She cares about her position in the GOP after Trump is gone. I think she’s been quietly sussing out possibilities for a while. Monday’s head-on collision with Trump was the quiet part getting loud.

None of this week’s news makes sense if you forget about QAnon.

In that conspiracy theory, Epstein is part of a shadowy group of Jewish super-elites who control the government, corporations and the media. It is so powerful it can commit any crime — including the most heinous, pedophilia and cannibalism — and get away with it, all while conspiring with allies, foreign and domestic, to destroy America.

In that story, Trump is the hero, “the chosen one” who is supposed to save America from enemies so evil that he must do whatever it takes to defeat them, even if that means committing massive crimes himself. Thanks to that story, Trump could broadcast during his campaign all the crimes he was going to commit once reelected (ie, vengeance), and it didn’t matter to the most conspiracy-addled faction of the GOP.

Anything was acceptable as long as Trump defeated the Great Evil.

On the release of the Epstein files, this supposed pedo-cabal (“Democratic politicians, Hollywood actors, high-ranking government officials, business tycoons and medical experts,” per Wikipedia) was supposed to face immediate justice: mass arrests and summary executions.

They called it “The Storm.”

But last spring, US Attorney General Pam Bondi determined that the president’s name appeared too many times in the government’s case against Jeffrey Epstein to risk releasing the files. (Bloomberg reported in August that 1,000 FBI agents reviewed 100,000 documents in order to redact his name. Bondi made her determination after that.)

Trump agreed with Bondi, and once he did, he took his most zealous followers for granted. He failed to consider what he was asking them to do: choose between believing in him, and the heroic role he played in the cosmic story about the fate of America, and believing in the existence of deadly threats to America by imaginary Jewish enemies.

Put another way, he forced them to choose between him and their anti-semitism and they were never going to let go of antisemitism. (QAnon is a 21st-century update of very, very old hatred of Jews.)

In doing so, Trump introduced doubts that have deepened with every revelation about his ties to Epstein. Instead of being the exception to every rule, he seems to be the rule itself. Instead of being the solution to the problem, he seems to be part of it — or worse. Before long, it could be understood that he exploited those who truly fear a phony pedo-cabal to hide his own involvement in a real pedo-cabal.

As long as Trump was a victim — as long as he represented the heroic victimhood of “the nation” — he could be forgiven for anything, even crimes that ultimately hurt his followers. Without the authority that comes with being the exception to the rule, however, efforts to blame his enemies are falling on deaf ears. He has repeatedly tried accusing the Democrats of making up the “Epstein hoax,” as he did with the “Russia hoax,” yet followers don’t look to him. They look to Republicans like Greene who still seem loyal to the One True Faith.

So not only has Trump undermined MAGA's trust in him. He made room for rivals who have been seeking moments of weakness to exploit. Greene presented herself as a true believer who is saddened by the former hero’s fall from grace: “I forgive him and I will pray for him to return to his original MAGA promises.” But she also dared him to reclaim what she had taken: “It really makes you wonder what is in those files and who and what country is putting pressure on him.”

It wouldn’t take much for a figure like Greene to expand the conspiracy theory about a pedo-cabal to include a Russian dictator who is blackmailing the president into covering up a pedo-cabal.

Trump seems to know it. That’s why he balked.

His base is fractured. His rivals are emboldened. His opponents are united. The result was Wednesday's House vote in which members voted 427-1 to force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.

How this ends is anyone’s guess. But if this ends badly, it will be due to Trump’s hubris — in taking for granted the conspiracy theory that brought him back to power.

'I don't trust this guy' Eric Swalwell says Trump won't fully release Epstein files

Congressman Eric Swalwell says he does not think the Epstein files will be released in their entirety, despite a near-unanimous vote to make them public.

The Epstein files bill passed through the House of Representatives on Tuesday with a 427 to 1 majority. The bill was then passed through the Senate and signed by Donald Trump. Despite the president signing off on the bill, Congressman Swalwell does not believe the Epstein files will be released in their entirety.

Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Swalwell said he simply doesn't "trust" the president and gave a flat "no" to whether he believes all the files will be released.

Swalwell explained, "No. I don't trust this guy for one moment. In fact, he's acted this entire time like somebody who really has something to hide but sometimes, not most of the time, but sometimes, enough public sentiment can be built and some measure of justice can be brought."

"The public sentiment is what drove my Republican colleagues to do the right thing, not because of anything inside them and certainly not because of anything from the president." Swalwell even extended an olive branch to former close Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who he says had voted to release the Epstein files all along the way.

He added, "I will take her in our coalition if it helps people. The next discharge petition, that's what forced this vote, is to lower health insurance costs, which is crazy that they would want to let that lapse, and if she wants to join our coalition, I can put the crazy aside and bring her under the tent.

"We need to be more open to people who are willing to do that. But it just shows, there is strength in numbers against this guy [Trump]. He wants to pick you fof one by one, and the four of those that stood up against him, they can get more friends and show that we are stronger together.

"But if they just shrink and they hide and they allow themselves to be picked off, that's when he's stronger. With the Epstein vote, we showed that we and justice and those victims are stronger." Swalwell, who announced he's running for Governor of California in 2026, went on to say we "shouldn't take him [Trump] at his word".

Ghislaine Maxwell now has prison warden as her personal secretary: report

Newly released emails from Ghislaine Maxwell – who was deceased child predator Jeffrey Epstein's chief accomplice — show that the special privileges she's receiving in prison even include "secretarial services" from the facility's highest-ranking official.

The Atlantic's Isaac Stanley-Becker reported Thursday that he pored through dozens of emails that Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee received from a nurse who worked at the minimum security prison camp in Bryan, Texas (northwest of Houston) where Maxwell was transferred earlier this year. While NBC News reported on some excerpts of those emails, Stanley-Becker wrote that the most notable details had "not previously been reported."

According to the Atlantic journalist, Maxwell's emails were "notably free of regret, remorse, shame [and] self-doubt." He wrote that they provide a window into the "relatively comfortable life" of the woman serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Epstein groom and exploit underage girls. One of Epstein's victims recalled that Maxwell was "more physically abusive" than Epstein.

Among the extensive privileges being exclusively granted to Maxwell include her being allowed to have visits in private in the prison's chapel, rather than in the facility's designated visitation space. She's also been allowed to have an unlimited supply of toilet paper, whereas other inmates are only allowed two rolls per week. She and her legal team are provided with "drinks and snacks" when visiting her. Additionally, prison warden Tanisha Hall has allowed Maxwell to bring in "private electronic equipment."

Stanley-Becker reported that Hall is even providing "secretarial services" to Maxwell. He included an example from September in which there was a "problem with the mail" at the prison, and Hall came up with a "creative solution." Maxwell's attorney was told to scan documents and email them directly to the warden, while the warden would "scan back [Maxwell's] changes."

"The following month, Maxwell was typing away late one Sunday. She was wading through attachments, and she was 'struggling to keep it all together,' she wrote in an email with the subject line 'Commutation Application,' suggesting that her team was preparing a direct appeal to Trump," Stanley-Becker wrote. "As they worked on their argument, Maxwell told her lawyer that she would transmit relevant records 'through the warden.'"

Doug Murphy, who Stanley-Becker described as a "prominent Houston-based attorney," compared Hall's behavior toward Maxwell to a CEO personally performing customer service duties. He suggested the warden acting in such a way is either only because she has a personal relationship with Maxwell, or because her superiors instructed her to go out of her way to accommodate Maxwell.

"It’s way out of the norm," Murphy said.

Click here to read Stanley-Becker's full article in the Atlantic (subscription required).

Bondi's 'dramatic U-turn' proves DOJ now fully owned by Trump: analyst

MS NOW producer Steve Benen argues Attorney General Pam Bondi’s reason for re-opening a case she personally closed could not be more obvious, or embarrassing.

“Maybe the attorney general wasn’t comfortable saying ‘I do whatever Trump tells me to do, regardless of merit’ during an on-camera press conference,” Benen said.

In July, Bondi’s very own Justice Department released a joint statement with the FBI declaring that after “an exhaustive review” of “investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein,” investigators had concluded the case closed. Based on all of the available information, Benen said the two departments agreed there was nothing to justify further inquiries into any of Epstein’s alleged connections or co-conspirators.

But last week, Benen said Bondi made “a dramatic U-turn,” reopening the case and tapping a federal prosecutor to continue the investigation that she had declared dead four months ago.

When asked by a reporter why she was rekindling the cold investigation Bondi replied, “Information. There’s information that’s new information, additional information.”

“As for what ‘information’ she was referring to, neither Bondi nor Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche would say,” Benen said.

“It’s certainly possible that the Justice Department’s and the FBI’s ‘exhaustive review’ missed important detail, which emerged four months later, but there’s a more logical explanation,” Benen said, and he cited President Donald Trump personally directing the Justice Department and the FBI to launch a new investigation into the case of the convicted sex offender and target it at Democrats.

“I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Four hours later, Bondi did as she was told, discarding her own declarations from the summer,” said Benen.

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Bondi wrote in a post on X that included a screenshot of Trump’s request.

“The new line is that the series of events is merely coincidental. Sure, the president who has effectively taken control of the Justice Department barked a foolish order. And sure, his loyalist AG acted four hours later. But what really happened, according to Bondi, is that officials just happened to learn of new ‘information’ she wasn’t at liberty to share at the same time as Trump published a silly tweet telling the DOJ what to do,” Benen said.

Read the full MS NOW report at this link.

Trump will finally crash if we hammer him on this — instead of Epstein

I am going to type something you are not going to like, folks, but it’s for our own good, so here goes:

We are never going to see the Epstein files.

I know, I know, there I go, harshing your mellow again, but I am done playing these silly, tiresome games where our corporate media spends 278 consecutive news cycles chasing the crumbs Donald Trump and his lawless Department of Justice tosses them about Jeffrey Epstein, until all of a sudden everybody wakes up one day and have completely lost the thread, which is this:

The man has had one of the single-worst years of any president in history. More than that? He knows it. Even more than that?

The voters know it.

Prices are rising, and jobs are evaporating. The rich are getting richer, and everybody else is getting poorer. Americans are sick and tired, at a time their health-care premiums are going through the roof.

There is a complete chaos in Washington, where the only thing Trump has accomplished of note is bulldozing our White House into one of his tasteless, cheap, and failing golden casinos, just five years removed from his destructive alterations to our Capitol Building after losing the 2020 election by more than 7 million votes.

He is a professional arsonist and ripoff artist who has assembled a submissive, appalling cabinet whose single job is to bow in unison to their king, while keeping the matches and gasoline coming.

Through all the blood and smoke, Left-leaning voters have taken to the streets, kept their tired eyes on the prize, and just two weeks ago, elected Democratic candidates to office at a stunning 2-to-1 clip. If this keeps up (and it will if we stay focused) Democrats might just flip the Senate next year, in addition to taking the House with a sizable margin.

Look, I am not saying everything and anything associated with Epstein isn’t important, but I am saying it can’t become the thing.

I am saying we believe the women, who were victimized by these monsters. I am saying we keep calling for the release of everything to do with Epstein, and we keep asking the woman-abusing Trump one question, and one question only, as it pertains to this abominable affair:

“Why won’t you, Mr. Trump, use all this power you relentlessly remind us you have to release the Epstein Files RIGHT NOW?”

Because if Trump really wanted the Epstein Files in the general vicinity of the public he could make that happen with a single snap of his fat little fingers.

But he’s not going to do that. Ever.

Anybody who thinks Trump is going to allow the Epstein Files — or even a semi-close approximation of them — to come out is completely delusional and has been in a blissful slumber the past 12 years. Trump didn’t surround himself with that corrupt cabinet, and build a lawless Supreme Court in his revolting image just so he can turn around and detonate a bomb that could blow him to smithereens.

Instead, he’s going to do that special thing he did Sunday night, when he assaulted his nuclear-powered cell phone with those fat, little fingers and took to his state-run social media account to type out this low-grade slop:

“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party.”

The Epstein files will be the blunt object Trump uses to beat on the Democrats and the press. This is all sport to him. Dangle whatever is left of the files out there as the shiny object that distracts us from the complete mess he has created since he stomped back into office 10 months ago, then play the victim of all of it.

“It’s another hoax — a witch hunt! Everybody is so, so mean to me …”

What it is, is a cover-up and that’s the only word that should be used going forward.

Sunday night, King Trump grudgingly gave his Republican congressional serfs the cover they need to tell their voters that they voted to release the files. Now they can wash their hands of the whole thing, before dirtying them again as they try to fend off Democratic challengers who are coming for their jobs next year.

Meantime, Trump can do what he does best, and spin our corporate media like a top. He can play that pathetic victim card, while he gaslights, deflects, and offends.

As I was researching this piece, I came across a clip in which Trump tells the press, “All of Epstein’s friends were Democrats.”

That is called a lie, but like so many of the tens of thousands of lies before it, went unchallenged, and was barely a part of the record. Trump’s too good at telling lies, and our media is too bad at exposing them and giving them the heft they deserve.

Worse, they have become far too accepting of the abuse this ill-bred yacht club bully and convicted felon directs at them on an hourly basis. As a career journalist it has become almost impossible to watch.

On Air Force One on Friday, Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey asked Trump about the Epstein case.

He shoved his chubby finger in her face, and snarled: “Quiet, quiet piggy!”

Lovely, eh?

By Tuesday he was brushing off the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Seated cozily next to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, whose dirty regime ordered the killing, the dead-eyed Trump said, “Things happen.”

There’s no newsroom guidance I’m aware of anywhere that says journalists have to just sit there and take it when a slob, and convicted felon calls them “piggy” and shrugs off the brutal killing of one of their colleagues by simply saying, “Things happen.”

It is very hard to respect a press corp which won’t respect itself. Trump works for their readers, viewers, and listeners, and I’m not sure when exactly they forgot that.

For now, I will continue to fervently hope that in addition to pressing for an answer to the one and only question about the Epstein Files that truly matters, Democrats take this far more important question to the nation as a whole as we head toward the midterms:

“Are you better off now than you were two years ago?”

The answer to that will go a long way toward determining the balance of power in America, and just how much more crap we will all have to take from this lying, orange, abusive loudmouth.

Psychologist warns Trump's 'piggy' putdown displayed deeply worrying personality flaw

An expert believes Donald Trump's "piggy" comment is part of an "emotionally unstable" strategy often deployed by the president.

His comment to a Bloomberg News reporter aboard Air Force One last weekend has been roundly denounced, but it highlights an ongoing tactic utilised by the president, psychologist Alex Iszatt said. Trump, when asked about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, replied, "Quiet! Quiet, piggy."

Iszatt, speaking to The Mirror, said, "I don't think he has narcissistic personality disorder, though he definitely shows grandiose and narcissistic traits, and his attitude towards women comes straight from that old-school hierarchy. He not only grew up in an elite bubble that enabled this mindset, he also thrived in environments that rewarded aggression and spectacle, where bulldozing and humiliating opponents was seen as an asset rather than a liability."

Iszatt went on to suggest the president is "emotionally unstable" and that he has had "decades" of bad behaviour reinforced.

She said, "Nature and nurture are both at play, and his traits fit a personality that is egocentric, low in empathy, and emotionally unstable, with mean and childish reactions that have been reinforced for decades, because he has never needed to see the world from anyone else’s perspective, and humiliation is a tool he uses like a playground bully to get his own way.

"I don’t think he is mentally ill, he is cunning, and breaking norms isn’t a loss of control, it is part of his strategy."

Fellow body language expert Judi James believes the president's "piggy" comment is part of his ongoing visualization of both insults and praise.

James said, "His insults tend to be visually-prompted. His favorite, constantly-employed compliment word is 'beautiful' and he uses it to praise things like a deal or a bill as much as the people he is meeting."

"It suggests a trait of predominantly visual stimulation, which might also account for his constant boasting about his lavish redecoration of the White House. If he sees 'beautiful' as the highest praise it's probably no surprise he will go for a visual term to insult someone, too."

Trump 'threatening to play games' after 'change of heart' on Epstein files

Donald Trump is "threatening to play games" with the release of Jeffrey Epstein's files, DNC Chair Ken Martin has said.

In a statement released by the Democratic Party, Martin suggested there is a long-term plan in place from the president to avoid releasing all of the files. The House voted to release the files with a 427 to 1 vote on the act, which has since been signed off by Trump.

The Department of Justice now has 30 days to release the files "in a searchable and downloadable" format. Despite the bill passing, DNC Chair Martin believes there is still a struggle ahead for releasing the files.

He wrote, "For months, Donald Trump and his White House have done everything in their power to defy and deceive the American people and keep the Epstein Files buried. Now — as his approval ratings plummet to the lowest level of this term — he’s suddenly had a ‘change of heart.’ But we can see where this is headed: He’s already threatening to play games with the files that are released and those that are withheld."

Martin also called for there to be complete transparency when releasing the files and that it was "time to finally deliver" on the truth.

He continued, "Here’s our call: Protect survivors, withhold nothing. Trump’s Department of Justice must release ALL of the Epstein Files immediately. Americans are done being jerked around and know that any move from the administration to delay or obscure any information will be seen for what it is — a government cover-up designed to protect the wealthy, the well-connected, and Donald Trump.

"The public deserves transparency, and the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes deserve justice and accountability. It’s time to finally deliver what Americans have been demanding from the start: the truth." Trump had initially opposed the release of Epstein's files but bowed to the demands of the GOP earlier this week and confirmed he would sign the bill should it pass.

The president ultimately supported the move to force the Department of Justice to release non-classified files related to Epstein following pressure from members of the Republican Party and the Democrats.

Trump's decision to support the bill, rather than oppose it and the many GOP representatives calling for its release, was a "long time coming," according to CNN's Zachary B. Wolf.

Wolf wrote, "President Donald Trump was confronted by his fellow Republicans. And he fell in line. The flip-flop was a long time coming. The House of Representatives stayed out of session for more than a month during the government shutdown, which helped to shield Trump from this vote."

'Never occurred before': Ex-Trump lawyer says Bondi may be disbarred over huge DOJ mistake

An ex-Trump attorney said that U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi could be disbarred over potential misconduct in the case against James Comey, former FBI director.

The case was against Comey was never shown to or voted on by a full grand jury before it was presented in open court — which could lead to Bondi and Lindsay Halligan, interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia — to be disbarred, Ty Cobb, former White House attorney during President Donald Trump's first administration, told MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing on Wednesday.

Comey's defense team argued that development should prevent further prosecution in the case, saying "there is no indictment," and Judge Michael Nachmanoff gave the Department of Justice until 5 p.m. to respond to the revelations.

"Because typically, if an indictment is dismissed, the government has six months to represent, notwithstanding the expiration of the statute of limitations," Cobb said. "This is an indictment, though, that doesn't really have to be dismissed. It doesn't really exist. It was never properly returned. So I think this is I think what we heard today, shocking never, never occurred before in American jurisprudence. I think it was will be dispositive. But on the other hand, there's so many dispositive issues here, including her illegal appointment."

Cobb called the move surprising and pointed to Halligan's "illegal appointment."

"It's shocking you couldn't find a high school stock boy at Home Depot who could have handled this more ineptly than Lindsey Halligan did," Cobb said. You know, taking an indictment that the grand jury never saw, having the foreman sign it and then presenting it to a judge? That's the height of ineptitude and misconduct."

Cobb also noted Bondi had backed up Halligan's documents in court, which could lead to Bondi herself being disbarred.

Jansing also asked Cobb about the Epstein files and what could happen next as the legislation heads to his desk.

" Trump has no intention of releasing any documents. He and Bondi will scheme and prevent the release, in my view. I don't think we'll see any meaningful or consequential documents come out after this based on Trump's order to prosecute Democrats, not Republicans.

Bondi could use a legal loophole to try and argue the information is still tied to litigation. Trump, he argued, has no interest in releasing the files and only made his move when Republicans said they would push for the files to be released.

"It's not sincere or genuine. He could have released the documents himself without the legislation," Cobb said.

But Trump wants to "be on the winning side," and that's why he reversed his stance.

"Contrary to Bondi's lies this morning, there is no new information. The government has all this information," Cobb said.

Bondi has been on record saying no more new cases could be brought against anyone now.

"Whatever's happening now is just a fraud," he added.

'We would probably end up murdered': Epstein survivor offers grim explanation for action

A Jeffrey Epstein survivor explained Wednesday why the client names in the Epstein files have not been made public yet.

Haley Robson, who was abused by Epstein as a teenager and not trafficked, told CNN anchor Pamela Brown that she and other survivors fear threats on their lives and have not shared any names associated with the disgraced late financier and convicted child sex offender for that reason.

"There are things that I know that legally I cannot say. There are things the other girls know that they legally cannot say. It goes back to the list," she explained. "A couple of the girls said that they would gather together some information. They would make a list. But it goes back to Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY). If we were to get on the floor and start naming people, we would be sued into homelessness. We would probably end up murdered. I mean, our lives would be dismantled and we've gone through enough trauma and just being out here and being so public, we're taking a risk."

Political threats against the lawmakers leading the legislation have also escalated the survivors' fears about naming the other people involved in Epstein's abuse.

Greene declined to appear on CNN during the live broadcast on Wednesday, citing safety concerns, Brown explained.

The MAGA lawmaker has had a public rift with President Donald Trump, who called her a "traitor." Greene has reported that she has faced threats following these attacks from the president.

"Look at what they're doing to Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie," Robson added. "Political violence doesn't belong in our country and our society. Everybody has a right to believe in what they choose. Everybody has a right to be a Republican or a Democrat. Everybody has a right to believe in what they choose to believe. And it doesn't matter what their political affiliation is, because it's a human issue."