Memo to Democrats: If you want to trigger a wave of wins in next year’s midterms, demand hearings on the Epstein files.
Also, at every press conference about inflation, Ukraine or cuts to Medicaid, display a big photo of President Trump posing with Jeffrey Epstein and women.
Every camera should have a clear view of a poster with this Trump quote: “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen 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.” Credit New York Magazine’s 2002 interview with Trump.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) is a role model here. At his reelection campaign kickoff last week, he said plainly, “Did anyone really think the sexual predator president who used to party with Jeffrey Epstein was going to release the Epstein files?”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Cali.) is another model. He is demanding the release of all files related to the Epstein case. Khanna even tried to attach a resolution on releasing the files as an amendment to a cryptocurrency measure, only to have it blocked by House Republicans.
A cynic might ask: Why are House Republicans sitting on the files? Who are they protecting?
Many of Trump’s loyalists in the House GOP conference used congressional oversight powers to push conspiracy theories about Benghazi and Hillary Clinton’s email server. Democrats have far more evidence of wrongdoing and cover-up in going after the Epstein files.
Trump won in 2016 on the strength of a conspiracy theory, the false claim that President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. Remember Trump saying his private investigators “couldn’t believe what they were finding”?
There is no need for false claims tying Epstein to Trump. You can watch the video of Trump partying with Epstein in Florida in 1992. You can also watch the video where Trump says of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime companion, “I wish her well.”
Maxwell is in jail on charges of helping Epstein by “facilitating and participating in the sexual abuse of children,” in the words of Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney who oversaw her 2021 trial and conviction.
Open the facts of this case for all to see. Note that Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi served as Florida’s attorney general from 2011 to 2019. Remind Americans that Trump was questioned by lawyers for Epstein’s victims, according to Florida investigative reporter Julie K. Brown, who helped break the Epstein story open in 2018.
Trump’s first Secretary of Labor, Alex Acosta, was the U.S. Attorney in South Florida who cut Epstein a sweetheart deal. When asked why by the Trump vetting team, Acosta reportedly claimed he had been told to “back off” because Epstein was connected to “intelligence.”
That’s not speculation. Neither Acosta nor the Trump administration officials who vetted him have denied it, according to the reporter who broke the story.
A special prosecutor should subpoena Acosta, place him under oath and ask, “Mr. Acosta, is it true that someone told you to go easy on Epstein because he was connected to intelligence? If so, who told you that?”
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump sent a birthday greeting to Epstein in 2003 with a hand-drawn outline of a naked female.
Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief White House strategist, is calling for a special prosecutor. And let’s not forget that Elon Musk, Trump’s top campaign donor, said flatly that Trump was in the Epstein files in an X post last month. Why isn’t Trump suing Musk for defamation?
Calling out Trump on his use of conspiracy theories is long overdue. Even in the White House, he has falsely claimed he was targeted by a liberal “Deep State.” Despite Russia being found to have supported his 2016 candidacy, he rightly said there was no proof of “collusion,” but then he claimed Democrats had created a Russia “hoax.”
When he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, Trump spun yet another conspiracy theory about the election being rigged by Democrats in big cities. That led to a riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6. One of Trump’s first acts upon returning to office was to pardon the people who attempted a violent overthrow of the election in service of that conspiracy theory.
For years, Trump and his supporters in the conservative media have pushed conspiracies featuring him as a truth-telling, right-wing avenger. But none of those charges against Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton and President Obama, have been more enduring than suspicions of a conspiracy involving Trump and a man convicted on prostitution charges, Epstein.
The shadowy former financier apparently committed suicide during Trump’s first term before he could face added charges for sex crimes. His associate Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence in a federal prison in Florida for her role in Epstein’s activities.
Now, as the Trump administration refuses to make good on its promise to release all files on Epstein’s crimes, Democrats have an opportunity to heal the damage done by the president’s use of social media to create a political base of people who follow his false claims.
Trump’s critics have long asked: How does this end? What will it take for Trump’s base to finally see through him?
Ironically, the conservative media’s echo chamber may now lead to his undoing.
Democrats have to make 2026 a referendum on Trump’s handling of Epstein.
Juan Williams is senior political analyst for Fox News Channel and a prize-winning civil rights historian. He is the author of the new book “New Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America’s Second Civil Rights Movement.”
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