Opinion | Don’t Miss This: Epstein Edition

A lot happened this week. “The USA has increased its military presence in the region.” “The case against former FBI Director James Comey may be in jeopardy.” “I held that hand. I don’t care where that hand is.” Here’s something you shouldn’t miss. On Tuesday, the House and Senate passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and the president signed it into law. This means the Justice Department now has less than 30 days to release all its files on Epstein. I’ll tell you more about the asterisk in a moment. “Trump has now signed the Epstein files bill.” Of course you didn’t miss this news. And at first glance, this is a win. It’s a chance for the public to know exactly who participated in these horrific crimes. Holding powerful people accountable for their association with a sexual predator. And after an investigation spanning two decades, Epstein’s victims need to get the answers many of them are looking for. All of these outcomes are still possible. But don’t lose sight of the fact that all of this comes at a cost to the American justice system. As with so many things, the president put his own interests ahead of the nation’s at every step he took. The question now is: Once these files are released, will Americans be able to fully trust them? Because while the public has been demanding justice in the Epstein case for a long time, President Trump has focused more on himself. Wait a minute, Trump is demanding the release of the files. “I want a full investigation. That’s exactly what I’m demanding.” “Will you declassify the Epstein files?” “Yes, yes, I would.” Then… “Democrats on the House Oversight Committee ——” “released emails they said were written by Jeffrey Epstein.” “Including one who said: ‘He knew about the girls when he told Ghislaine to stop.’” As it became clear how much the president might have known about Epstein’s abuses, he ordered AG Pam Bondi to launch a Democrat-focused investigation. “Frankly, this is unfortunately a political exercise for Democrats and a few others.” And unsurprisingly, he changed his tune again when it looked like the Congress was going to challenge him anyway. “Yess are 427. Nos are 1.” This entire saga was nothing but a political game for Trump. Nothing makes this clearer than how Congress is pushing Trump. Because if he really wanted to release the files, he could have ordered the Justice Department to do so long ago. “I mean, I’m the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.” So once these files are released again, will Americans be able to fully trust them? Probably not. That’s because the bill includes a list of allowable withholdings that the Department of Justice is allowed to exclude from disclosures. Some of these make sense, such as redacting victims’ personal information. However, the Department of Justice may also withhold information in the interest of an active federal investigation or prosecution, national defense, or foreign policy. These are broad categories that give the Department of Justice wide leeway. This is important because these decisions will be made by a department that Trump has been trying to corrupt all year. As much as we want answers, this administration has proven time and again that they cannot be trusted with the truth. A lot happened this week. “The USA has increased its military presence in the region.” “The case against former FBI Director James Comey may be in jeopardy.” “I’m holding that hand. I don’t care where that hand is.” Here’s something you shouldn’t miss. On Tuesday, the House and Senate passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and the president signed it into law. This means the Justice Department now has less than 30 days to release all its files on Epstein. I’ll tell you more about Asterix in a moment. “Trump has now signed the Epstein Files Bill.” Of course you didn’t miss this news. And at first glance, this is a win. It’s a chance for the public to know exactly who participated in these horrific crimes. Holding powerful people accountable for their association with a sexual predator. And after an investigation spanning two decades, Epstein’s victims need to get the answers many of them are looking for. All of these outcomes are still possible. But don’t lose sight of the fact that all of this comes at a cost to the American justice system. As with so many things, the president put his own interests ahead of the nation’s at every step he took. The question now is: Once these files are released, will Americans be able to fully trust them? Because while the public has been demanding justice in the Epstein case for a long time, President Trump has focused more on himself. At every opportunity, he uses the Ministry of Justice and the attorney general who manipulate it to his own political ends. Wait a minute, Trump is demanding the release of the files. “I want a full investigation. That’s exactly what I’m demanding.” “Will you declassify the Epstein files?” “Yes, yes, I would.” Then… “Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails they say were written by Jeffrey Epstein.” “Including a quote saying ‘He knew about the girls when he told Ghislaine to stop.'” As it became clear how much the president might have known about Epstein’s abuses, he ordered AG Pam Bondi to launch a Democrat-focused investigation. “Frankly, this is unfortunately a political exercise for Democrats and a few others.” And unsurprisingly, he changed his tune again when it looked like the Congress was going to challenge him anyway. “Springs 427. Nos are one.” This entire saga was nothing but a political game for Trump. He never cared about justice, especially for Epstein’s victims. “The little girl, who struggled for her life at the age of 14 and 15, finally had a say.” Nothing makes this clearer than how Congress is pushing Trump. Because if he really wanted to release the files, he could have ordered the Justice Department to do so long ago. “Of course, I mean, I’m the chief officer of the nation’s law enforcement agency.” So once again, when these files are released, will Americans be able to fully trust them? Probably not. That’s because the bill includes a list of allowable withholdings that the Department of Justice is allowed to exclude from disclosures. Some of these are reasonable, such as redacting the victim’s personal information. However, the Department of Justice may also withhold information in the interest of an active federal investigation or prosecution. National defense or foreign policy. These are broad categories that give the Department of Justice wide leeway. This is important because these decisions will be made by a department that Trump has been trying to corrupt all year. As many answers as we want. This administration has proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted with the truth.