Epstein documents raise new questions about Trump conduct

I usually try to give President Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt.

He’s constantly under attack from Democrats and the media, and he takes more than his fair share of attacks, but every debate is turned up to 11.

In the case of Jeffrey Epstein, I always assumed they were good friends — like Bill Clinton — but if there was something truly egregious about this president, it would have been revealed a long time ago.

And if Trump had done something bad, these rich guys wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave a paper trail.

WHITE HOUSE HOLDS DEMS’ ‘BAD FAITH’ EPSTEIN DOCUMENT RELEASE AS DEMAND FOR FILES INTENSES

When the incident about the birthday message to Epstein came out, I, like most people, including some of my conservative colleagues, assumed it was real. Writing such a message in 2003, at the request of Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, did not seem like such a big deal, despite the obscene slurs. The problem was that Trump kept calling it fake; This denial continues today.

But here are the latest Epstein emails released yesterday by Democrats on the House Oversight panel: What’s the right word? – disturbing.

At least the long-secret cables show that Trump was aware of Epstein’s predatory behavior long before he said he was ending the friendship.

As for the White House defense, there is nothing to see here and that suggests Trump has done nothing wrong, consider this.

Republicans leading the investigation have obtained documents showing that President Obama knew that Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile and that he might have had an affair with one of the young victims. Wouldn’t 99% of them be screaming about what a terrible scandal this is?

And don’t most Democrats, even if they criticize the behavior, look for ways to justify it?

Citing thousands of documents, the president said Democrats are “trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they will do anything to overlook how poorly they did during the Shutdown.”

There are reports that the President called Representative Lauren Boebert and attempted to reach Representative Nancy Mace to prevent the House from reaching 218 votes for what is known as the impeachment petition; this gets around the leadership to enact the law.

DEMOCRAT’S OATHING TIPS RATED FROM HOUSE WARS TO UNSEALING EPTEIN DOCUMENTS

Speaker Mike Johnson refused to take the seat for 50 days for the obvious partisan reason that newly elected Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva had promised to be the 218th voter. CNN said two more GOP representatives have said they would join the effort.

“Doesn’t it show transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of Congress whenever they want?” said press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “Doesn’t that show our level of transparency? Doesn’t that show our level of transparency when we’re willing to sit down with members of Congress and address their concerns?”

Trump said Democrats are “trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they will do anything to overlook how poorly they did during the Shutdown.”

You’ve probably read the most damaging quotes ever.

In the most incriminating email, Epstein said, “VICTIM spent hours at my house” with Trump, the woman who later accused Epstein of sexually abusing her during her teenage years.

Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz. He was sworn into office on Wednesday, November 12, providing the support needed to force the House of Representatives to vote on the Epstein files. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

This name has been removed from the 20,000 documents published. But the Washington Post was among the publications that identified her as Virginia Giuffre, who was a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago before Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell hired her, and Trump cited that as the reason for his breakup with Epstein. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year.

However, his alleged involvement in this incident may also provide some exculpatory evidence. Giuffre has always maintained that she remembers meeting Trump once and that he was just friendly. He said as much in his posthumous memoirs, published by his family last month.

We may never know whether he was frightened by the prospect of making allegations against a former president or, later, a second-term president.

In a 2011 email to Maxwell, Epstein said: “The dog that doesn’t bark [Trump.]”

BIOGRAPHY, IN NEWLY PUBLISHED EMAILS, ASKED EPSTEIN TO PRESS TRUMP FOR ‘POLITICAL COVER’

In a 2019 email to journalist Michael Wolff, Epstein said of Trump that “of course he knew about the girls while asking Ghislaine to stop.” Epstein killed himself in prison later that year.

Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking, was transferred to a minimum security prison after being questioned by Trump’s deputy attorney general.

Wolff had a striking email exchange with Epstein after his offer to write the prisoner’s biography was rejected in 2015, as Trump was starting to run for president. Wolff was coaching Epstein on what to say about the candidate in his upcoming CNN interview.

“I think you should let him hang himself,” Wolff wrote. “If [Trump] If he says he’s not on the plane or going home, that gives you valuable public relations and political gain. “You can hang it in a way that has a potentially positive benefit for you, or you can save it and create debt if it looks like it could actually win.”

Wolff, whom I have known for years, has seen his credibility seriously diminished after the latest books about Trump.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee sent emails between Jeffrey Epstein and his biographer Michael Wolff. (Getty Images)

Wolff did not say why he withheld this information after Epstein’s suicide, because death is often viewed in journalism as freeing the interviewer from any off-the-record commitments.

Here’s more information about a conversation with former Obama White House adviser Kathy Ruemmler about a 2018 New York Times column advocating Trump’s impeachment. Epstein wrote: “[Y]You see, I know how dirty you are [D]”That’s it.”

It’s no surprise that there’s been a barrage of criticism of the president from Democrats.

Let’s look at it from a broader perspective. Trump’s reputation as a womanizer, particularly the allegations regarding Stormy Daniels and hush money, is well known, but the possibility of him having sex with an underage child is in a much darker category.

Moreover, two of the key figures involved in the case are dead.

How long will the Epstein saga last? What happens if emails involving Democrats and Epstein come out?

In our limited experience with impeachment, alleged abuses from more than a decade ago involving an officeholder who was then an ordinary citizen are often not pursued.

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Therefore, there may come a point where this unresolved turmoil may give way to new debates about the 47th president.

I can say only one thing without fear of contradiction. The bombshell documents completely overshadowed what happened a few hours later: After 43 painful days, the House voted to end the federal government shutdown.