All posts tagged "jeffrey epstein"

'Women are more brave': MTG, Mace and Boebert praised as GOP men cave in Epstein civil war

WASHINGTON — It’s becoming increasingly clear to a handful of powerful MAGA congresswomen that their fight to release more Epstein files now pits them against some of the most powerful politicians in the Republican Party.

Bring it on, they say.

“Sometimes, you just have to f—ing do what you gotta f—ing do,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) told Raw Story at the Capitol. “Excuse my language.”

Before Congress’s August recess, there were 10 Republicans willing to publicly buck President Donald Trump and force his political lapdogs — Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders — to hold a vote on releasing details of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the financier, sex trafficker and longtime Trump friend who died in federal custody in August 2019.

“The women are more brave in the face of the White House,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) told Raw Story.

Massie is the lead Republican sponsor of the Epstein discharge petition, a formal mechanism that forces a vote on any measure supported by more than half the 435-person House, an effort that has made Trump and GOP leaders uneasy for months.

Their efforts to quash the move have left most Republican men neutered, but they haven’t been able to dissuade three GOP congresswomen from their demand for full disclosure — or at least as full as appropriate, given minors are involved.

‘Close to home’

Most of his victims are still alive. That doesn’t mean the judicial system and its alleged congressional enablers haven’t made them feel powerless.

“The thing that got me was these women have been fighting for 30 years for justice and still don't have it. You have people who don't want to help them, and to me, it's infuriating,” said Mace, a rape survivor herself.

“It hit close to home.”

In the ring with fellow Republicans, Mace is joined by firebrands Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). They have yet to cave.

“The truth needs to come out, and the government holds the truth,” Greene told a large crowd outside the Capitol this week, as a group of Epstein victims gathered to speak.

“All of the fault belongs to the evil people that do these things to the innocent. This is the most important fight we can wage here in Congress, is fighting for innocent people that never received justice. And the women behind me have never received justice.”

Even MTG’s Democratic critics hailed her effort.

“I thought Marjorie Taylor Greene speaking was very, very powerful in terms of a signal to other Republican congresspeople,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), co-sponsor of the discharge petition with Massie, told Raw Story.

“The tone of this was not partisan. There are partisan fights: California redistricting is a partisan fight, the president militarizing the streets [is] a partisan fight.

“This is actually an issue that can bring this country together, and, frankly, the president can get credit if he releases the files.”

Trump doesn’t want credit. Rather, he continues to reverse campaign promises to release the files, dismissing survivors as perpetuating a “hoax”.

Following the president’s demands, this week Republican leaders tried to get out in front of the issue by releasing upwards of 30,000 Epstein-related files, many of which were public already.

“I think it’s a massive win,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who had supported the push for full disclosure, told Raw Story, adding: “I've always been pushing for the documents to be housed publicly somewhere for everyone to be able to access.”

Others panned the move.

“There's a lot of redactions. Like the flight logs, I mean, we have entire pages that are blocked out and blacked out, and I don't think those are all victims,” Boebert told Raw Story.

‘I don’t buy that’

At the Capitol, Epstein survivors — or surviving family members — concurred.

“Were you able to see some of the documents that came out last night?” Raw Story asked Sky Roberts, who lost his sister, abuse victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre, to suicide earlier this year. “Just all the black on there, all the redactions?”

“The people in these files are, like, politicians,” Roberts said. “They aren’t interns. They are very wealthy and powerful people, and it shouldn't be up to the survivors to have to release that list.”

Some GOP congressmen have now distanced themselves from the discharge petition they tried to force on party leaders, to bring a vote on the House floor.

“You're not signed on to the discharge petition anymore?” Raw Story asked Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), the day after Epstein survivors met members of Congress. “Why not?”

“I'm afraid of what the ladies told us yesterday is that they were saying that some of them could be outed publicly,” Burchett said. “I want them to remain anonymous. They don't need to be hounded by the press or people or freaks out there.”

Raw Story asked: “What do you make of your supporters and the president’s supporters saying you’re now a part of a cover-up?”

“I don’t buy that,” Burchett said.

Tim Burchett and AOC Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) shares a fist-bump with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Cover-up or not, Republican men have undeniably retreated.

“What do you make of the men kind of bailing on this?” Raw Story asked Massie. “Before recess, you guys had about 10 [supporters] and now it's the dudes who bailed?”

“The women are more brave in the face of the White House,” Massie said.

“And look at who the women are: They're supporters of Donald Trump: Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene.

“This isn't political. I know some Democrats are trying to make it political and some Republicans are trying to make it political. But our base — and even the Democrat base — are all in the same place on this.”

‘Moving pieces’

Some female Trump fans on Capitol Hill say they are giving the administration time to reverse course.

“Obviously, there's a lot of moving pieces, but we are going through them right now,” Luna said, praising the administration for its files release this week. “And there has been some stuff that was not previously up there.”

While Luna went from endorsing the discharge petition in July to removing her endorsement, she says she isn’t judging GOP colleagues on the other side of the scandal.

“Every member has a right to do what they feel is best, but I think the files have been released. So if there's more, we'll find out in the investigation,” Luna said.

“It sounded like you were saying that you could still support the discharge petition — just not now?” Raw Story asked.

“If there's stuff that hasn't been released that we need and then we're getting blocked, yeah,” Luna said. “But I'm not going to do that without … looking through all the documents myself.”

Like Trump, Luna campaigned on releasing the Epstein files. But she remains dubious of Democrats who she accuses of piling on late.

“Why now?” Luna asked. "It just seems there’s a little bit more to the story than a lot of people are saying.”

‘Burn the system to the ground’

Congress just returned from summer recess, with the federal government slated to run out of funding at the end of the month.

Still, some say there's no bigger issue than righting Epstein’s wrongs.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) departs in tears from a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein survivors. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

“This might not be the biggest issue in America right now, but it is the issue everybody can agree on,” Massie said. “Honestly, I think a lot of people are going to be embarrassed on both sides of the aisle.

“Powerful political figures will be embarrassed, but that's not a reason to not do this, to avoid embarrassment for somebody.

“Again, I don't think Jeffrey Epstein was particularly partisan in his sexual malfeasance … he committed many crimes. It's basically a group of people that don't need to belong to a party, because they don't report to the law when they do.”

What’s universally agreed upon is the Epstein saga isn’t going anywhere.

Raw Story asked Mace: “Before you guys left town for August recess, there were about 10 of you supporting the discharge petition. Right now, it seems like all the men are trying to bail. Is that just the old boys club at work?”

Mace smirked.

“I hope that more will join us,” she said. “We need to burn the system to the ground and start over.

“I'll do anything to help the Epstein victims. I'll do anything I can in my power to help them.”

This Republican may blow up her life's work — just to please Trump

As many of you know, I ran last year for Congress against Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), and lost. I have no plans to run again.

As regular readers know, I’ve hardly mentioned her since starting this Soapbox almost four months ago. She’s largely irrelevant.

But the upcoming bombshell decision facing the U.S. House of Representatives about whether to release the Jeffrey Epstein files is a test of Wagner’s fundamental integrity unlike any other she has faced in her years in Congress. And it is upon us.

Wagner has had one signature issue in her career — standing up, she claims, for the plight of women who are victims of sex trafficking. When I say it’s her one signature issue, let me add: whatever comes in second place isn’t even close.

The issue didn’t come up when I ran against her, because there was nothing to argue about. For years, she has spoken loudly and repeatedly and elegantly on behalf of the need to have better protection for sex-abuse victims, and particularly for those who have been trafficked.

Good for her. I never questioned her righteousness nor her sincerity on this point and there were plenty of other issues for me to campaign on, none of which needs to be rehashed here.

But the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is the definitive sex-trafficking story of our time, and maybe of all time. What this pervert did, who he did it with, how, when and why — and the ongoing coverup of his trail of evidence by Donald Trump — is about as major as news stories get.

As best as I can tell, Wagner, the self-proclaimed champion of trafficked women, has never once spoken Epstein’s name publicly — despite the fact that he used his power and privilege to traffic and abuse hundreds, if not thousands, of young girls.

Wagner faces a vote that is tough for her fellow Republicans — but should be a slam-dunk for her — which is whether to require the Justice Department “to release all the files related to Epstein’s case, including information related to his clients and close circle,” as reported today at The Hill.

The Trump White House, dropping any pretense of true innocence, has gone full-authoritarian with its own Republican Party on this one.

“A White House official commented on the discharge petition Tuesday night, saying that supporting it would be viewed as ‘a hostile act,’” NBC News reported.

Really? Releasing all the Epstein files — in accordance with Trump’s repeated pledges on the campaign trail to do just that — is now a hostile act. Those are pretty strong words.

Wagner’s vote, whenever it happens, will present a rare binary choice. So would her refusal to follow the leads of fellow Republican Reps. Thomas Massie (the disclosure bill’s co-sponsor), Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert in the event Trump’s lapdog House Speaker Mike Johnson manages to kill it.

Here’s the choice:

Wagner votes “yes” for full disclosure of the Epstein files, proving she is a woman of integrity and cares about sex-trafficking victims, as she has claimed for at least a decade

Wagner votes “no” or even fails to vote “yes” as a participant in Trump’s coverup, in which “integrity” and “Ann Wagner” should never be mentioned in the same sentence again.

You didn’t hear me talk like that during the campaign, because nothing had occurred in her record for me to question her personal character. This would be it.

If Wagner fails to stand with Epstein’s sex-trafficking victims — and with the basic principle of accountability for sex traffickers — then she at least should do the world a favor and renounce the following that she either sponsored or cosponsored:

FOSTA – Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act
Bill: H.R. 1865 (115th Congress)
Role: Primary sponsor (authored)
Summary: Amended Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to remove immunity protections for websites that knowingly facilitate sex trafficking, enabling civil and criminal liability. Passed the House 388–25 (Feb 2018), Senate 97–2 (Mar 2018), and signed into law April 11, 2018 as part of the broader FOSTA‑SESTA package.

SAVE Act – Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation Act
Bill: H.R. 4225 (113th Congress, 2014) & H.R. 285 (114th Congress, 2015)
Role: Primary sponsor
Summary: Made it a federal crime to knowingly advertise commercial sex acts involving trafficking victims, particularly minors or coerced adults. Passed the House 392–19; ultimately incorporated into the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA) of 2015.
Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA)
Bill: S. 178 (114th Congress, 2015)
Role: Key House co-sponsor and advocate; included Wagner’s SAVE Act provisions
Summary: A wide-ranging bipartisan anti-trafficking law that enhanced law enforcement tools, increased restitution, funded services for survivors, and strengthened training across federal agencies. Incorporates multiple bills, including the SAVE Act, and was signed into law on May 29, 2015.
Trafficking Survivors Relief Act
Bills: Multiple versions — H.R. 6292 (114th), H.R. 459 (115th), H.R. 3627 (116th), H.R. 8672 (117th), H.R. 7137 (118th Congress, 2024), and reintroduced in H.R. 1379 (119th Congress, 2025)
Role: Original sponsor or cosponsor in multiple sessions
Summary: Provides post-conviction relief—such as vacating convictions, expunging arrests, sentencing mitigation, and affirmative defenses—for survivors of human trafficking who committed non-violent crimes as a direct result of their victimization. Versions reported in the House and supported across party lines.

For cynics who might think Wagner believes Trump is entitled to some special exemption on the subject of sexual exploitation of women, I would direct them to her public comments on October 9, 2016 — in the wake of the release of the infamous Access Hollywood Tapes — in which she most clearly stated he was not. In fact, she felt so passionately about sexual exploitation of women, that she made this public statement:

"I have committed my short time in Congress to fighting for the most vulnerable in our society. As a strong and vocal advocate for victims of sex trafficking and assault, I must be true to those survivors and myself and condemn the predatory and reprehensible comments of Donald Trump. I withdraw my endorsement and call for Governor [Mike] Pence to take the lead so we can defeat Hillary Clinton."

It took Wagner less than three weeks in 2016 to decide that Trump wasn’t such a bad predator, after all. Or maybe that she didn’t need to be that true to victims of sex trafficking and assault.

Today, the “strong and vocal advocate for victims of sex trafficking and assault” has another opportunity to show that she means what she has been saying all these years.

What’s it going to be, Ann Wagner, when it comes to your chance to stand up and make a politically difficult statement on behalf of those victims? Even at the risk of seeming “very hostile” to Trump?

It is her moment of truth.

'I'm already scared enough': Epstein survivor sidesteps direct question about Trump

A Jeffrey Epstein survivor sidestepped a direct question about President Donald Trump as she urged lawmakers to mandate the release of materials related to the late financier's sex trafficking network.

Dozens of survivors appeared Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill at an event organized by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna to urge lawmakers to support a discharge position they have filed mandating the release of Justice Department records about Epstein's crimes.

"It's not okay for us to be silenced and it's not okay for Jeffrey Epstein and everybody else to be put on a pedestal," said abuse survivor Marina Lacerda. "I think everybody needs to hear from us because we know what went on, right, and there is not only me who's been silenced. There are hundreds of women that are silenced. My hope is to stop this abuse for the future, right, for people that are coming up for women – my daughter, for example. These people have these women have daughters, they they most definitely don't want that anymore, and I think mainly it is it is this is therapy for all of us to, you know, we want to be heard."

"Nobody also has ever asked me to speak," she added. "That's also another thing, so I can say for all of us here we are here we want this bill to pass. It is very important and we need transparency. We are tired of looking at the news and seeing Jeffrey Epstein's name and saying that this is a hoax. We are tired of it, we are done, we are not going to be silenced, and I hope that my voice will bring other survivors and other victims to come along and speak up so that we can be more of a stronger voice and louder."

President Donald Trump's name came up multiple times during the news conference, and a reporter asked Lacerda what she would say to him if given a chance.

"Listen, I don't like to, I don't want to send a direct message to him," Lacerda said. "I'm already scared enough. Yeah, just just pass the vote, listen to us. This is not a hoax, like, it's not going to go away."

Watch below or click here.

- YouTube youtu.be

'We know the names': Epstein survivor reveals victims are compiling their own list

Jeffrey Epstein's victims have proposed compiling their own list of the late sex offender's associates and alleged co-conspirators.

Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) organized a Wednesday morning news conference on Capitol Hill where victims and their attorneys urged lawmakers to sign on to a discharge petition filed by the bipartisan duo, and abuse survivor Lisa Phillips said she and Epstein's other victims would work to expose his criminal network no matter what.

"Epstein's reach went to the very top of fashion, arts and entertainment," Phillips said. "This did not just happen to underage girls in Florida, in New York City, hundreds of young, ambitious women were abused by him. Epstein was not just a serial predator, he was an international human trafficker, and many around him knew. Many participated and many profited and yet he was protected, so I stand here today for every woman who has been silenced, exploited and dismissed. We are not asking for pity, we are here demanding accountability, and I'm demanding justice. Congress must choose: Will you continue to protect predators or will you finally protect survivors."

"Also, I would like to announce here today, us Epstein survivors have been discussing creating our own list," she added. "We know the names. Many of us were abused by them. Now, together as survivors, we will confidentially compile the names we all know who regularly and who were regularly in the Epstein world, and it will be done by survivors and for survivors. No one else is involved. Stay tuned for more details."

Watch below or click the link.

- YouTube youtu.be

Be assured, Trump is doomed — and here's how

The neofascist takeover of America — of our cities, universities, media, law firms, museums, civil service, and public prosecutors who tried to hold Trump and Trump’s vigilantes accountable to the law — worsens by the day.

As I’ve traveled across the country peddling my book, trying to explain how this catastrophe happened and what we can do about it, I’ve found many Americans in shock and outrage.

“How could it have happened so fast?” they ask. I explain that it actually occurred slowly and incrementally over many years until our entire political-economic system became so fragile that a sociopathic demagogue could bring much of it down.

Some people I speak with are still in denial and disbelief. “It’s not as bad as the press makes it out to be,” they say. I tell them that it is — even worse.

Others are in despair — heartbroken and immobilized. “Nothing can be done,” they say. I tell them that hopelessness plays into the hands of Trump and his lackeys who want us to think that the game is over and they’ve won. But we can’t let them. The stakes are too high. Hopelessness is a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Rest assured. The seeds of Trump’s destruction have already been sown. He will overreach. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of birthright citizenship, for example, and Trump announces he’s not bound by the Supreme Court, the uproar will be deafening.

Or the economy will bite him in the butt. As prices continue to rise and job growth continues to slow — due to Trump’s bonkers import taxes (tariffs), his attempt to take over the Fed, and his attacks on immigrants — America will fall into the dread trap of “stagflation”: stagnation and inflation. After months of this, his base is likely to turn on him — remember, many voted for him because he promised to bring prices down — and he and his Republican lackeys in Congress will be toast in the 2026 midterms.

Or his brazen corruption will do him in (he’s personally raking in hundreds of millions from crypto, for example). Or Putin will do him in (if Ukraine falls to Russia or an emboldened Russia strikes Lithuania). Or the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

He no longer has any truth-tellers to advise him — he has purged all of them. And a president who’s flying blind, without anyone around him to tell him he’s about to crash, will inevitably crash. Many innocent people will likely suffer “collateral” damage. But at least the nation will see him for who he is and consign him to the dustbin of history.

None of this argues for complacency. We must continue to fight — demonstrate, phone your representatives and senators, boycott corporations and organizations that are caving in to tyranny, protect the vulnerable, make good trouble.

But please do not fall into denial or despair, and don’t let anyone else.

Robert Reich is an emeritus professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/

This timeline of Trump's Epstein cover-up reveals so much

Drip, drip, drip…

For months, Donald Trump has tried to divert public attention from the Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell files. But he can’t shake the story, and it keeps getting worse.

Reversal

Trump campaigned on the promise to release all of the files relating to Epstein’s sex trafficking in minors. To supercharge his MAGA base, he fueled conspiracy theories that the files contained something sinister involving prominent Democrats.

February 2025: Trump’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, told a Fox News interviewer that Epstein’s client list was sitting on her desk, awaiting her review before its release.

May: Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche informed Trump that his name appeared in the Epstein files, the New York Times later reported.

July 7: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel — who pushed conspiracy theories about the files during Trump’s campaign — issued a two-page memo stating that there was no Epstein client list and that the Justice Department would not release any additional materials relating to the matter.

July 16: Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Maurene Comey was fired. Comey was a lead prosecutor in the investigation and prosecution of Epstein and his coconspirator, Maxwell. She was also the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey and chief of the Violent and Organized Crime Unit. The memo gave no reason for Comey’s abrupt termination.

July 17: The Wall Street Journal published Trump’s alleged birthday note to Epstein that included his sketch of a naked woman.

Blowback

Trump’s MAGA base erupted in anger over his refusal to release the Epstein files. Trying to appease his followers, Trump directed Bondi to ask that the courts release grand jury transcripts. This was disingenuous because: 1) the courts were not likely to release the material; and 2) even if they did, the transcripts would constitute a small fraction of the Epstein-Maxwell files.

July 23: A Florida judge denied Bondi’s motion to release the files relating to Epstein investigations in 2005 and 2007 that resulted in a non-prosecution agreement. Trump’s first-term Secretary of Labor, Alex Acosta, negotiated the agreement with Epstein’s high-powered lawyers while serving as US attorney for the Southern District of Florida during George W. Bush’s presidency.

Blunder

July 24: Deputy Attorney General (and former Trump attorney) Todd Blanche flew to Tallahassee and met with Maxwell for two days — an unprecedented visit for a No. 2 official in the Justice Department. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

July 31: Contrary to prison assignment policies for sex offenders, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Prisons transferred Maxwell from a Tallahassee prison to a “Club Fed” camp in Texas.

Boomerang

August 11: A federal judge in New York denied Bondi’s motion to unseal Maxwell’s grand jury files. The court observed that anyone “who reviewed these materials expecting, based on the Government’s representations, to learn new information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes and the investigation into them, would come away feeling disappointed and misled. There is no ‘there’ there.”

The entire exercise was a farce — another Trump con job:

The one colorable argument under that doctrine for unsealing in this case, in fact, is that doing so would expose as disingenuous the Government’s public explanations for moving to unseal. A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at “transparency” but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such.

August 20: A different federal judge in New York blasted Bondi’s motion to unseal the grand jury transcripts. Describing the “trove” of materials that the Justice Department had assembled but withheld from the public, the court observed:

The Government’s 100,000 pages of Epstein files and materials dwarf the 70-odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials.

Trump’s directive that Bondi seek the release of the grand jury materials was always a ruse. As the court continued:

The Government is the logical party to make comprehensive disclosure to the public of the Epstein files. By comparison, the instant grand jury motion appears to be a “diversion” from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the Government’s possession.

The court specifically called out Trump’s about-face on releasing the files:

In February 2025, the Government, as noted, was prepared to release the “Epstein Files” to the public. See DOJ Press Release. But then, on July 6, 2025, the Government announced that it would not make the files available to the public.

And the judge concluded: “The information contained in the Epstein grand jury transcripts pales in comparison to the Epstein investigation and materials in the hands of the Department of Justice.”

New scam

On August 5, several Republicans voted with Democrats on the House Oversight Committee to force chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) to subpoena the Justice Department for Epstein-Maxwell materials. Comer also issued subpoenas to former Attorneys General William Barr, Merrick Garland, Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, and Alberto Gonzales; former FBI Director James Comey; former special counsel and FBI Director Robert Mueller III; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; and former President Bill Clinton.

That’s superficially impressive, but purely performative. Notably missing are the frontline prosecutors and investigators who actually know something meaningful about the Epstein-Maxwell cases.

One is Maurene Comey.

August 22: The FBI’s surprise search of former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s home and office dominated the media. The Justice Department also released a transcript of Blanche’s interview with Maxwell during which she asserted that no one connected with Epstein’s alleged crimes had done anything wrong — including her and, of course, Trump, upon whom she lavished praise.

Sharing the news cycle was the Justice Department’s production of documents to the House Oversight Committee. It provided a fraction of the DOJ’s Epstein file, and only 3 percent was new.

August 25: The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed materials from Epstein’s estate and announced that it will depose Alex Acosta on September 19.

Drip, drip, drip…

This stunning finding shows Trump is destroying his own support

By Tatishe Nteta, Adam Eichen, Alexander Theodoridis, Jesse Rhodes, and Raymond La Raja, UMass Amherst.

Has President Donald Trump survived the latest and most serious firestorm of controversy over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal? Or has the Trump administration’s handling of the release of information concerning the prosecution of a convicted child sex trafficker, Trump’s former friend, hurt the president?

A number of journalists, pointing to recent public opinion polls, have claimed that the scandal has hurt Trump. Others have argued that the public has largely moved on and the Epstein controversy no longer presents a political liability for Trump.

But both of these conclusions are based on limited polling about the Epstein controversy and thus may be premature.

Our recent University of Massachusetts Amherst national poll includes particularly detailed questions about the Epstein controversy and attitudes toward Trump, and thus provides fresh insights on how the controversy has affected public support for Trump.

We find that Trump’s handling of the Epstein controversy has done significant damage to his standing, particularly among his core supporters.

'Fumbling the matter’

Americans are paying close attention to the prolonged Epstein controversy. Our polling finds that three in four respondents have heard, read or seen “a lot” or “some” about Epstein.

Moreover, most believe that Trump is fumbling the matter.

Seven in 10 Americans believe that Trump is handling the matter “not well.” This includes pluralities of Trump’s most loyal supporters: 43 percent of Republicans, 43 percent of conservatives, and 47 percent of those who voted for him in 2024.

When we drill down on the 47 percent of 2024 Trump voters who disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Epstein controversy, we find significant cracks in the MAGA facade. Among members of this group, 28 percent now disapprove of Trump as president.

When we take demographics, ideology, partisanship and assessments of the economy into account, disapproval of Trump’s handling of the release of the Epstein files is still associated with an increase in disapproval of Trump.

Voter regret

Even more significantly, we find that among 2024 Trump voters, negative views of Trump’s handling of the Epstein files are associated with an increased desire to make a different choice if the 2024 election could be rerun.

More specifically, among Trump voters who believe that the president has mishandled the release of the Epstein files, more than one quarter – 26 percent – indicate that they would not vote for Trump if they had the opportunity to vote again in the 2024 election.

While there are no election do-overs, it is clear that the Epstein scandal has hurt Trump among his base of voters.

Much can happen between now and the midterm elections in November 2026, of course.

But if Trump fails to satisfy his political base, perceptions among Trump voters that he has mishandled the controversy could reduce enthusiasm and participation in the elections. Even if the share of Republicans alienated by the Epstein controversy is relatively small, this could hurt Republicans in close contests.

With over a year to go, the facts on the ground will likely change. But as of today, the controversy over the release of the Epstein files remains relevant. Whether the president responds in a manner that satisfies his voters is a question that could have important political consequences.

Dear America: How Trump's bizarre ramblings might roll from his mind

THE WHITE HOUSE

Sunday, August 10, 2025, 4:11 a.m.

Dear Americans who need my incredible strength even more than I do right now,

After the terrific and fanatical success of the Very Important Letter that I wrote to you exclusively using only my right hand last week, I was urged by Stephen Miller and those who are almost as close to me in my family, to write another letter to you this week.

You are welcome in advance for accepting the request, even if I would rather be on the golf course tackling our nation’s most distressing problems with an 8-iron.

Just so you know, I will be using my right hand to write this ponderous, beautiful letter again this week, even though I am very anti-dextrous and easily could have written it with my left hand.

Thank you for your understanding, and you are welcome in advance for being allowed to think about this breathtaking issue I am facing.

Before I write about incredibly important things today, I want to clear something up so that there is no confusion in the future — that is, if there even is a future …

Many of you contacted me to ask why I didn’t use my right hand to write “Thank you for your attention to this matter” in my Very Important Letter last week. Well, I only write “Thank you for your attention to this matter” when I am writing inconceivable warnings on my Truth Social account, which is free to everybody who agrees with me on everything.

I hope this clears up all the confusion, and you never ask me about this again, because I have enough on my plates.

So let’s get right down to what I know has been on your minds as we come off a week which saw everybody getting richer thanks to my implausible tariffs, gasoline dropping to 99 sense a gallon, and horrible dog and cat eating colored people being rounded up by the brave men of ICE to keep you all safe in your quiet suburbs.

No wonder I was just informed by Stephen that my sensational approvals just reached an unheard of 80 percent. Not even George Jefferson had ratings that high and he was the father of our country.

You’re welcome.

Anyway, incredibly average citizens, the rumors are true, I will be sitting down with Vlad in Alaska this week, and most likely Friday, though this could change, depending on what happens with the Epstein Files which never seem to go away.

In fact, forget I even mentioned that. There are no Epstein Files. Well, maybe a few, but I had nothing to do with them or Epstein, and never met him except for once or twice, or maybe three times.

Four times max.

When he started stealing my girls, I put my incredibly big, size 15 left foot down, and kicked him out of my spa at Mar-a-Lago, home to the thinnest broads and fattest steaks in America. That was the last I saw of him or my girls. And that’s the last thing I will say about the Epstein Files.

Now where was I?

Oh yeah, up on the White House roof. Actually, that was the other day, so forget about that, too. Nobody knows why I was up there screaming at people from that roof except for me, which makes it top secret and irrefutable. The view is really something, though.

So let’s talk about this meeting I may or may not have with Vlad on Friday or one of the other five days of the week, depending on what happens with the Epstein Files, which I really won’t be mentioning anymore in this Very Important Letter.

But why won’t they JUST GO AWAY????? WHY CAN’T SOMEBODY LIKE BILL BARR JUST KILL THEM????

Sorry, I lost my exposure … But as you know all this has been very, very unfair to me. How am I supposed to keep colored people out of the suburbs, and bring down the prices of everything when I am being hounded about something I already forgot about, and had nothing to do with?!

OK, that really is the last I’ll say about this, even though I have a lot more to say about this. And just so you know, those girls weren’t THAT young. Anybody could make a mistake … Ivanka always looked a lot older than she really was. I blame her first mother for that, whatever her name was — the old blonde we buried underneath the first hole of my beloved golf course in that safe. Anyway, Ivanka. But I mean look at her now. All grown up … blonde … legs that seem to go on forever …

Anyway, forget I mentioned that, too, if it’s possible.

Now let’s focus on Alaska.

Even though my vital intelligence tells me Vlad wants Alaska back, I fully intend to hold onto it no matter how much pressure he puts on me to give it up. That’s why I invited him to Alaska in the first place, so I can stand there like a powerful iceberg and defend it.

Even if I’m not sure I really want to ...

It has always surprised me that no other president has used any of our states as bargaining chips. I mean, who really needs 50 states? Do we need three Dakotas and four Carolinas? What if I was to trade him Alaska for Germany? Think of this. We’d get Volkswagens and strudels, and he’d get a bunch of Eskimos, Lisa Murkowski, and snow.

Again, I am not going to do this, but you’d have to be crazy not to at least entertain the terrific idea.

And because I’m a master-state chess player, I also imagine Ukraine might just come up in these powerful discussions. You never know with Vlad. He’s very clever, but I’ll be ready for that, too.

Now king me.

You have my ironclad promise I will not be trading Alaska for Ukraine. I’d like to hold onto both, unless maybe I can get him to throw in France. So he gets Alaska and we get France, Germany and the Ukraine, which I really don’t even want. You have to admit, that would be quite a deal, folks.

But we’ll see how it goes.

Friday is a long way off, and I have many, many things I want to accomplish before then, like redecorating the master bedroom in the White House. As you know, I have already gotten rid of the roses in that stupid garden RFKJ’s family planted. I have installed a patio on top of them just like we have at Mar-a-Lago. We are currently offering gold-plated crypto memberships to the new patio to the first 10 billionaires who apply. But these are going quickly so please act now.

And speaking of RFKJ, how about that incredible work he did this week getting rid of those terrible vaccines and saving me $500 million that I can now spend on renovating the White House?

Just more terrific things that were accomplished while I was wandering around on the roof hollering at people and admiring that memorial. You never know what’s going to happen each day while I’m running America. I can tell you, I certainly don’t.

But you’re welcome for all of it.

Well, now I need to give my righthand a rest. Please wish me God’s energy and strength while I prepare for my meeting with Vlad that may or may not happen depending on whether anybody keeps talking about Epstein or not.

Sending you sincere welcomes,

DONALD J. TRUMP

D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and in addition to finishing up this latest letter, finished a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here.

This MAGA hero may be the one to finish off Trump

Joe Rogan built an empire on being the guy who asked the questions nobody else would. That’s why millions of Americans — especially younger men — trust him more than they trust the nation’s media, Congress, or the Supreme Court. They believe he sees through the spin. He talks to conspiracy theorists and scientists alike, grills politicians, mocks the media, and makes it all feel like truth-telling.

But now, Rogan is at a crossroads. The question isn’t whether Joe Rogan will change the country. The question is whether power is changing Joe Rogan.

The Trump administration is deep in the middle of its biggest credibility crisis since they sent troops into the streets of Los Angeles. And it’s not about inflation, immigration, or international war. It’s about the long-promised release of the Epstein files, something candidate Trump used as a political weapon in 2024, vowing to expose “elite pedophiles” and “drain the deepest part of the swamp.”

He won votes on it. He fired up his base with it. And now, seven months into his second term, his same administration is walking it back. Slowly, clumsily, but unmistakably.

On July 24, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a heavily redacted summary of the Epstein investigation, meant to satisfy the public hunger for transparency. Instead, it sent up a flare: no client list, no blackmail, no follow-up indictments. It was all information already publicly available with a simple Google search.

The Department of Justice claimed the “case was closed,” the evidence exhausted, and Epstein’s 2019 death during Trump’s last administration was once again ruled a suicide. What followed was backlash not from liberals, but from the hard-right Trump base itself.

And Joe Rogan was at the center of that backlash. “Do they think we’re babies?” he said in a scathing segment just days after the release. His tone wasn’t one of performative outrage: it reflected a true sense of betrayal. The tone of someone who’d believed the government would finally tell the truth.

He questioned whether the administration had buried the real story. Whether the American people had once again been gaslit by elites pretending to clean house while shielding their own.

Now, the Trump administration is trying something unprecedented: CNN reports they’re discussing looking to Joe Rogan to help fix the mess. Not by spinning it through Fox News. Not by putting Bondi on Meet the Press. But by putting Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche — Trump’s own criminal defense lawyer — on The Joe Rogan Experience, in what Trump aides are calling a “high-profile truth-telling interview.”

That alone should shock anyone who cares about democracy.

Let’s not forget: Rogan’s show has become the most powerful media platform in America. It bypasses traditional scrutiny. There are no time limits, no fact-checking in real time, no editors. Just vibes and persuasion and the illusion of transparency. It’s where millions go to “hear both sides,” but in reality, it’s where narratives are shaped in long, charismatic monologues and interviews.

That’s what the Trump team is counting on, and the implications are massive.

If Rogan accepts the interview with Blanche, he becomes part of the administration’s containment strategy. If he then softballs it — if he lets the White House rewrite history through his mic the way Fox “News” is now downplaying Epstein — he doesn’t just sell out his listeners. He becomes a tool of state power. The very power he built his brand opposing.

Rogan isn’t stupid. He knows this. Which is why this moment is so critical.

He’s already voiced doubts. He’s asked the obvious questions: Why would Epstein record everything if there’s nothing to hide? Why is there no official questioning of the men who flew on his plane dozens of times? Why is Ghislaine Maxwell in prison for trafficking girls to ... nobody? These questions have been asked for years, and yet the Trump administration wants to pretend that the final word is in. Case closed. Let’s move on.

If Rogan turns his studio into a soft landing pad for Trump’s damage control, it means something profound has shifted. It means even the loudest, most powerful “outsiders” can be absorbed by Trump’s deep-state machine.

That matters. Because democracy doesn’t die in big dramatic explosions. It dies when truth becomes just another version of events. It dies when public watchdogs become platforms for official spin. It dies when those who claim to speak for the people get so close to power, they forget who they’re supposed to be speaking to.

This isn’t about Joe Rogan being a Republican, or about hating Donald Trump. This is about whether the largest independent voice in the media landscape can resist the gravitational pull of power when it needs him most.

Rogan once warned us about this kind of thing. He talked about the CIA’s ties to the media. He aired claims about elite sex trafficking rings and called for radical transparency. Now, the Trump administration is banking on the idea that they can weaponize his credibility to bury the very narrative he helped popularize.

That should set off every alarm.

If Rogan presses Blanche — if he demands un-redacted documents, if he calls out the inconsistencies, if he challenges the entire narrative being pushed from the White House, if he interviews victims instead of toadies — then there’s hope.

As one victim wrote to the Department of Justice in a public letter:

“You protect yourself and your powerful and wealthy ‘friends’ (not enemies) over the victims, why? The victims know the truth, we know who are in the files and now so do you.”

If Rogan helps with the whitewash instead, then it confirms something darker: that the administration knows what we all suspect. That the truth doesn’t matter as long as the story feels good coming out of someone you trust.

There are people in Trump’s inner circle who understand the stakes. They know they’ve lost control of the Epstein narrative. They see the fury building online from their own supporters. They know that Rogan has the power to calm it down or to inflame it. That’s why they’re courting him. That’s why they’re hoping he’ll play ball.

But this is not a game.

This is about the credibility of justice in America. About whether billionaires and presidents and media personalities get to decide what’s real. About whether we still have independent truth-tellers, or only influencers whose truth depends on who’s in office.

In the coming days, we may see that interview happen. We may see Blanche sit across from Rogan and explain away the gaps, the redactions, the implausible conclusions. And we may see Rogan nod along, crack a few jokes, and let it slide. Or we may see him fight for the truth, press harder, dig deeper, platform the victims, and hold the most powerful man in the country accountable.

The future of media credibility — of citizen trust — may hang in that balance because the most dangerous lie isn’t the one politicians tell. It’s the one the public stops questioning.

So now the real question becomes: Will Joe Rogan help or harm democracy?

This festering open wound will finally end our Trump nightmare

There’s a tape.

Not a metaphor, not a rumor, not some fuzzy third-hand whisper passed from burner phone to basement podcast. A real audio recording. Two full days of Ghislaine Maxwell, the trafficker-in-chief of Jeffrey Epstein’s underage empire, speaking directly to Deputy Attorney General and Trump former criminal lawyer Todd Blanche. The Justice Department has it. Transcribed, digitized, real. Senior officials have confirmed it exists. And they’re sitting on it.

Why?

The answer, as always, is simple: because the truth is radioactive and most suspect that there’s no way she told the truth. And this time, it may not be the crime that blows the doors off. It’ll be the coverup.

For decades, we’ve watched this script play out in American politics. Watergate wasn’t about a second-rate burglary, it was about the tapes. Nixon wasn’t brought down by what his men did, but by what he tried to hide.

Bill Clinton wasn’t impeached because of an affair. He was impeached because he lied under oath.

Even Ronald Reagan escaped the full weight of Iran-Contra by claiming he didn’t know what was going on when his campaign manager cut a deal with the Mullahs to hold the Iranian hostages until after the election.

It’s always the cover-up. The moment the lie collapses, the whole edifice of power starts to rot from the inside out. And yet here we are again. Only this time, the man at the center of the storm is someone for whom coverups are not mistakes; they’re operating principles.

Donald Trump, once again, is facing a story he’d rather bury in a golf course like his first wife. The Epstein network is no longer a scandal. It’s an open wound. The suicides, the dead ends, the sealed documents, the missing logs: it all reeks.

And now the woman who may know more than anyone alive has given a two-day interview to the Deputy AG and was immediately transferred out of a high-security Florida prison into the upscale, open-campus Bryan facility in Texas.

Why does that matter? Because Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking minors. Under federal prison policy, that makes her an automatic “public safety factor,” a designation that makes her ineligible for such cushy reassignment. And yet — poof — it was waived. Gone. Erased like it never existed.

Craig Rothfeld, a prison consultant who’s worked with the worst of the worst, says he’s never seen it happen:

“No one I know in this world can recall in all their years a time that the Bureau of Prisons had an inmate’s public safety factor waived.”

That’s not a bureaucratic quirk. That’s a favor. A deal. A signal.

So again, we ask: what did she say? And how extensively did she agree to lie on behalf of Trump in order to get better treatment and an eventual pardon?

There’s no official answer. There’s just the echoing silence and the frantic attempt to get ahead of it. Or a frantic editing of the audio or videotape to make it work for Trump when Bondi — who, herself, ignored Epstein as he raped young girls while she was Florida Attorney General — finally decides to release it for maximum impact.

Inside the White House, according to multiple officials, the debate is not about truth, transparency, or justice. It’s about optics. About timing. About whether releasing the tape will reignite a story they think has “died down.”

Former Trump insider Lev Parnas reports that there’s a top-secret meeting going on today at JD Vance’s residence to nail down the details of the coverup:

“I told you it was coming — and here it is: Trump has activated Comer. This is coordinated. Calculated. The subpoenas, the Oversight Committee drama, it’s all part of the show. And while the press focuses on the chaos, the real operation is happening behind closed doors—at J.D. Vance’s home.

“They think they can get away with it. They think the circus act Congressman James Comer is rolling out—waving around subpoenas and distractions—is enough to keep the public entertained while they try to pull off one of the biggest cover-up’s in American history—erasing Trump from the Epstein files like he was never there.”

But this story doesn’t die. It festers. Because Trump, Qanon, and other Republicans spent literally years convincing their cult followers that Epstein’s pedophile clients were all Democrats or left-leaning billionaires, with Bill Clinton and Bill Gates at the front of the line.

And now, to their shock, they’re discovering that Trump appears to be right in the middle of it all.

We’re talking about a billionaire pedophile who died in federal custody under “suspicious circumstances” while Trump was president.

We’re talking about his lieutenant and procurer, convicted and imprisoned, suddenly being treated like somebody who wrote a bad check or even, as some on Fox “News” are now suggesting, a victim herself.

And we’re talking about a man who rode Epstein’s plane, partied at Mar-a-Lago with him, and was once quoted — on the record — saying Epstein “likes beautiful women … many of them on the younger side.”

America is talking about Donald Trump.

The former and current President has spent years trying to distance himself from the Epstein circle, claiming they had a “falling out,” pretending he hardly knew Maxwell. But photos, depositions, and flight logs all say otherwise. Epstein's black book didn’t leave Trump out; it put him near the top.

And yet, despite all that, Trump continues to skate. Because the story keeps getting absorbed into the noise. Until now. Until the tape.

If Maxwell named names, if she detailed events, if she confirmed rumors that have swirled for decades — that Trump attended parties where teenage girls were traded like party favors, that he joked about needing a glove to protect his “sacred scepter,” that he was anything more than a bystander — it would tear a hole in the center of his narrative.

The “tough guy” image. The populist champion. The innocent victim of political witch hunts. All of it collapses if a voice from inside Epstein’s house of horrors ties him directly to what the rest of us have only guessed at.

And that’s why the coverup matters more than ever and it’s entirely unlikely that Ghislaine said anything of the sort. Because the crime, grotesque as it is, happened in the shadows.

But the coverup? The coverup is happening in broad daylight. And the key to it will be Ghislaine Maxwell saying that Donald Trump had nothing to do with any of it in exchange for a better prison and an eventual pardon. That’s already now being reported.

It’s the DOJ debating “timing.” It’s Trump floating the idea of clemency on cable news, then walking it back with a wink like he has for other criminal associates so many times before. It’s the inmates in the Bryan minimum security dormitory, furious that a convicted trafficker is now sharing their yoga and puppy-training classes and is their softball teammate.

It’s the raw, visible machinery of power closing ranks.

We’ve become numb to it. Trump doesn’t need to deny anymore. He just deflects. “I haven’t spoken to Blanche,” he says. “He’s a very talented guy.” That’s it. No denial. No condemnation. No outrage. Just the same oily shrug he gave when asked about Ghislaine in 2020: “I wish her well.”

Meanwhile, the country gasps for accountability. It’s not just that we suspect the truth; it’s that we know we’ll never be allowed to see it unless someone leaks it. The tapes from Epstein‘s house. The blackmail material. The dirty heart of a scandal that refuses to die.

Because this isn’t about sex. It’s not even about Epstein. It’s about what we tolerate when a leader has enough power, enough money, and enough enablers to rewrite the rules and make a coverup work in real time.

When politicians lie and cover up — not just mistakes but actual crimes — they’re not merely shielding themselves: they’re redefining what power means in a democracy.

Every coverup chips away at the public’s belief in truth as a civic standard. It teaches that truth is optional, that deception is just another tactic.

When leaders escape consequences, they don’t just model corruption; they normalize it. Nixon’s resignation proved even presidents could be held accountable, but Ford’s pardon arguably led to Trump’s impunity, which sends the opposite message: power protects itself, and denial is more effective than confession.

The same was true with Reagan’s deal to hold the hostages until the 1980 election. And with George W. Bush’s brother Jeb throwing 90,000 mostly African American voters off the Florida rolls just weeks before the 2000 election that George “won” by 527 votes and the help of Clarence Thomas, his daddy’s appointee on the Supreme Court.

Institutions meant to serve the public; the DOJ, courts, Congress, and the press all become accomplices when they look the other way. Silence becomes complicity. Trust erodes, voter turnout drops, and conspiracies rush into the vacuum left by a vanished belief in facts.

When people stop trusting the system, they start craving saviors like Putin, Orbán, and Trump. Strongmen rise not because they’re strong, but because democracy seems weak.

And once a corrupt leader learns that consequences can be dodged with a lie, there's no limit to how far he’ll go.

The irony is brutal: most coverups aren’t even necessary. The crime could’ve been survivable. The lie is what metastasizes. The lie is what turns a mistake into a crisis, staining everyone who touches it.

Nixon could’ve disowned the burglars. Clinton could’ve told the truth. But power convinces men they can bend reality. In the end, the damage isn’t just legal; it’s theatrical. The truth never makes it to stage, justice is a costume, and the audience realizes the show is rigged. That’s when coverups tear at the fabric of democracy.

And the sad truth? Trump’s not alone in either the crime or the coverup.

History is filled with men who believed they were untouchable. Nixon, pacing the halls, muttering about “enemies.” Clinton, calculating the risk of a lie over the truth. Diddy, Weinstein, even Epstein himself: rich and powerful men surrounded by yes-men and fixers who believed the world would never catch up to them.

But the pattern always cracks. Always. The lie gets too big. The system bends just far enough. The coverup fails.

So we wait. For the tape. For the transcript. And the predictable outrage when it’s clear that Maxwell is now participating in the coverup, in the whitewash. For the moment when the wall around Trump’s past starts to tremble as even his most ardent followers realize he’s now the deep state itself, orchestrating his own coverup.

And when it does, it won’t be because of what he did. It’ll be because of what he tried to hide.

Because it’s always the coverup.