Justice for victims demands release of the Epstein files | Editorial

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” — George Orwell, 1984

Orwell’s fiction hung in the air as Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, claimed Donald Trump did not write or sign the cryptic note included in a 2003 birthday book for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“The president did not write that letter,” Leavitt said. “He did not sign those documents.”

Trump also denied that the distinctive scribble that accompanied the note inside an outline of a nude woman was his.

“It’s not my signature,” Trump said.

The president’s denial seems dubious when weighed against his tens of thousands of false and misleading claims in recent years. In fact, images of Trump’s seismograph-like signature from that period look similar to the one in Epstein’s birthday book.

More to the point: If Trump did not sign the letter, then how did it end up in a book compiled by Epstein’s girlfriend for the late financier’s 50th birthday?

Indeed, it is not the only Trump reference in Epstein’s birthday book. The tome includes a separate photo of Epstein with another man and woman at Mar-a-Lago holding an enlarged check with “DJ Trump” written on the signature line. A note under that photo joked that Epstein showed “early talents with money + women,” and had sold a “fully depreciated” woman to Trump for $22,500.

Perhaps it was just more “locker room talk” between rich and entitled men who think women are objects who can be grabbed by their private parts.

Trump has spent the past few months running from Epstein and his sordid abuse and sex trafficking of more than 200 women and underage girls.

But the truth is, the two men were once good friends.

An NBC News video from 1992 showed the two together at a party with NFL cheerleaders at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Epstein attended Trump’s wedding in 1993 to Marla Maples, the second of his three wives.

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Trump and Epstein appeared in a video together at a Victoria’s Secret fashion event in New York in 1999.

Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet, nicknamed “The Lolita Express,” several times, though the president said he “never had the privilege” to go to the private island where Epstein had a home and sexually abused dozens of women and young girls.

In 2000, 16-year-old Virginia Giuffre worked as a spa attendant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort when she was recruited into Epstein’s sex trafficking ring and groomed to perform sexual services on powerful men, allegedly including Prince Andrew of Britain. She took her own life in April.

In 2002, Trump told New York magazine: “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.”

Their friendship apparently ended in 2004, when Trump and Epstein had a falling out while battling for control of an oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, Fla.

After Epstein was arrested in 2019 on sex trafficking charges, Trump said, “I was not a fan of his.”

Epstein died while in a Manhattan prison, and his death was ruled a suicide. That day, Trump shared a social media post that linked his death to former President Bill Clinton.

At the time, Trump was president and demanded “a full investigation.”

Over the years, Epstein’s ties to the rich and powerful became fodder for conspiracies — especially among Trump’s MAGA base. There were unsubstantiated claims that he was murdered as part of a “deep state” cover-up to hide his client list.

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When Trump returned to office, the MAGA faithful expected all the details to come out. Especially since Trump appointees, like Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, had promoted the Epstein conspiracy theories and were now in power.

In February, Bondi told Fox News that Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk right now.”

Bondi later reportedly told Trump his name appeared in the Epstein files. By July, the U.S. Department of Justice said there was no client list, and no more Epstein files would be released.

The MAGA base exploded. Trump went from promising transparency to calling the Epstein scandal a “hoax.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed Congress for the rest of the summer in an effort to quash a bipartisan push to release more documents.

But on Monday, the House Oversight Committee released a batch of subpoenaed files turned over by Epstein’s estate that included the birthday book.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D., Calif.), are pushing for a House vote to force the Justice Department to release the FBI files on Epstein.

Trump, Johnson, and all but four House Republicans oppose the move — including all the GOP members from Pennsylvania.

What are they hiding? Who are they protecting?

At the end of the day, the Epstein case is not about politics. It is about doing what is right and just.

Dozens of Epstein’s victims deserve transparency and accountability for any crimes that have been committed. The full release of documents related to the abuse of women and trafficking of minors is needed to correct and prevent any failures of law enforcement and the legal system from ever happening again.

Sunlight is the solution — not Orwellian newspeak.