A Primer on the Epstein Scandal

Why This Story Is So Important to the MAGA Base

When the Jeffrey Epstein scandal story re-emerged a couple of weeks ago, my immediate reaction that it would quickly fade from the headlines, especially since President Trump wanted it to go away.

Clearly I was wrong. This story has legs. MAGA is not my thing — and, for the life of me I could not understand why this story was so important to the MAGA base.

To answer that question and get a better understanding of the issue, I turned to the writings of two people I deeply respect with long histories in Republican politics — New York Times columnist David French and Bulwark Founder Bill Kristol.

Here is an excerpt from French’s column earlier this week:

“The Epstein story mattered so much in MAGA circles because it was a key element in their indictment of America’s so-called ruling class. Trump’s appeal to the Republican base isn’t just rooted in his supporters’ extraordinary affection for the man; it’s also rooted in their almost indescribably dark view of the American government.

“Why are they so keen to burn it all down? Well, if you believe your government is populated by people so depraved that they’d participate in and cover up the systematic sexual abuse of children, then you wouldn’t just want them out of office; you’d want them prosecuted, imprisoned and maybe even executed. And you’d want all the power you’d need to make that happen.

“And if you believe that the ruling elites would abuse children, then they’d certainly be the kind of people who’d gin up a Russia hoax or try to steal an election in 2020. People who are that terrible are capable of anything. And if you wonder why MAGA turned on the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice, well, it’s not just about the Russia investigation or the F.B.I. search of Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago. MAGA America also believed the F.B.I. was protecting pedophiles to preserve the status quo.”

And here is the column Kristol wrote for his morning newsletter today about how the Epstein scandal could potentially impact President Trump. I was particularly fascinated by Kristol’s reminder at the end — that on this day 52 years ago, Alexander Butterfield revealed the Nixon White House tapes breaking the Watergate scandal wide open. In Kristol’s words: “History doesn’t repeat itself. But sometimes it rhymes.”

The Epstein Case: A Guide for the Perplexed

by William Kristol

The president of the United States is perplexed.

“He’s dead for a long time. He was never a big factor in terms of life. . . . I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. . . . I don’t understand why it keeps going,” Donald Trump told reporters late yesterday afternoon.

At Morning Shots, we exist to serve—so let me take a shot at briefly explaining to our perplexed president why the Epstein case is interesting.

Trump dismisses the Epstein case as old news: “He’s dead for a long time.”

Well, Jeffrey Epstein hasn’t been dead for that long a time. He died less than six years ago, during the first Trump administration, in a federal prison, and not of natural causes.

The cause of death was officially determined to be suicide.

But Trump himself had his doubts. In 2020, he told reporter Jonathan Swan (then at Axios) that Epstein “was either killed or committed suicide in jail. . . . And people are still trying to figure out: How did it happen? Was it suicide? Was he killed?”

That’s an interesting question.

The Trump administration claimed to have resolved the question in its terse statement ten days ago, which supported its finding of suicide. It even released what it described as the “full raw” surveillance video from the only working camera near Epstein’s cell. But as Wired reported yesterday, “Newly uncovered metadata reveals that nearly three minutes of footage were cut” from that video, raising “new questions about how the footage was edited and assembled.”

In other words, the tape was doctored.

That’s kind of interesting, too.

Trump is dismissive of Epstein’s importance: “He was never a big factor in terms of life.”

Well, I’m not so sure about that. Jeffrey Epstein ran a massive criminal conspiracy for many years that the federal government says victimized more than 1,000 girls. This enterprise involved very prominent figures, ranging from American billionaires to British royals. How he got away with that for so long, who helped him, who else participated in his crimes, how he was able to get the sweetheart deal he got from the George W. Bush Justice Department—all of those are interesting questions.

Furthermore, among Epstein’s friends was one Donald J. Trump, who subsequently became president of the United States. Trump said of Epstein in 2002, “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Especially in light of that last remark, but also in light of the fact that Trump and Epstein certainly seem to have enjoyed each other’s company, it’s worth asking just what President Trump knew of Epstein’s criminal activities, and how close his own active social life intersected with Epstein’s.

All of that is kind of interesting.

Now President Trump is claiming that the Epstein case files “were made up by” James Comey, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. These are the same files that were supposedly meticulously reviewed this year by his own Justice Department and FBI, and whose authenticity they found no reason to question. One would certainly want to ask Attorney General Pam Bondi or FBI Director Kash Patel whether they agree with this novel assertion by the president. Is there evidence for such a fraud? And of course, if fraud on the scale alleged by the president happened, then Congress surely needs to hold hearings to look into it.

These are just a few of the reasons why the Jeffrey Epstein case “would be of interest to anybody” and “why it keeps going.”

Indeed, the case is of interest to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. He’s a Trump loyalist who said just this week of President Trump that “There is no doubt that he was miraculously saved by God in order to lead our great nation again.” But Johnson said yesterday that he is dissatisfied with what the administration has done, and wants it “to put everything out there.”

The American public agrees with the speaker. A new YouGov poll asked: “Should the government release all documents it has about the Jeffrey Epstein case?” Seventy-nine percent of respondents answered “Yes.” Five percent said “No.” And 67 percent of Americans think the government is currently covering up evidence it has about Epstein. A mere eight percent disagree.

Trump has suffered few serious defeats so far in his second term. At this point in his second term, President Richard Nixon was also still riding pretty high. But it was on this day, July 16, 1973, that a former aide, Alexander Butterfield, revealed to the Senate Watergate committee that a taping system existed in the Oval Office.

It was all downhill from there.

History doesn’t repeat itself. But sometimes it rhymes.