To recap, during the ’90s, Epstein was at the center of a large social circle of well-connected people, such as businessmen and some academics. He also, along with associate/friend Ghislaine Maxwell, engaged in child trafficking. He also had a predilection for younger women. It’s possible some of his guests who accompanied him on his plane and partied at his infamous island were aware of this and even solicited underage sex. Epstein also blackmailed some his acquaintances, which could explain the reluctance of anyone to come forward and his suspicious death to prevent him from testifying.
A 2006 law passed by Congress eliminated the statute of limitations for child sex trafficking. This means Epstein’s crimes can still be investigated. All Trump needs to say is that the files are part of an active investigation and cannot be disclosed in its entirety, including the list, which makes sense given that prematurely revealing the names would obviously be counterproductive to the investigation.
Disclosing the names would require a grand jury to return a sealed indictment, after the investigation has concluded, as has always been the standard legal procedure. It’s not that Trump is trying to cover for Epstein, but that he is legally prohibited from revealing the names of an active investigation. Cries for transparency in regard to Epstein overlook the legal nuance of the situation and how transparency is neither feasible nor necessarily desirable. No government in history has ever given its citizens full transparency.
Elon has said Trump is in the Epstein files. Note how he did not say list. The files can be thought of as a large investigative dossier, compared to a more specific client list. Because Trump was close with Epstein, which has been common knowledge for a long time, by extension he must be in the files. The files likely contains detailed information, beyond what is already known, about Trump’s friendship with Epstein, which can explain why he wants people to stop talking about it, even if he’s not guilty of anything.
In the case of Trump, it’s reasonable to assume he was aware of Epstein’s activities, but continued to associate with him. This reflects poorly on his character, but silence in and of itself is not a crime. Anyone who associated with Epstein are probably included in the files part of the investigation, but are not named suspects. It’s similar to how many people in the music industry were associated with Diddy or attended his parties, but were not charged.
In explaining how Ghislaine Maxwell has been arrested but no one else, being on the client list in and of itself or otherwise associating with Epstein or Maxwell is insufficient to prove guilt. It’s similar to how when an illegal ‘dark web’ drug market is closed, many of the users are not arrested because they are hiding behind VPNs or Tor to obscure their activities, even if the site owners are still arrested. So although the feds have a customer list they cannot make arrests.
I predict the client list, if it exists at all, isn’t as salacious as the hype is letting on. If I had to guess, the majority of the named individuals are obscure or dead given that it was a long time ago. I predict there are few, if any, major figures. Those expecting to see Prince Andrew, Bill Gates, or Bill Clinton will be disappointed. This will invite inevitable accusations of withholding information.
Similar to Trump’s attacks Iran, the Epstein situation does not threaten to divide voters. The media is trying to create a narrative of infighting to weaken and demoralize the Trump base. Outside of a vocal minority online, the large majority of Trump voters do not care about Epstein, similar to how the majority of Trump voters either supported the strikes on Iran or have no opinion on the matter.
Like Iran, many of the ‘large accounts’ on Twitter who cried betrayal have quietly walked back and are now blaming the WSJ for leaking the fake letter, totally ignoring that just a week earlier they were blaming Trump. Anyone who is paying attention will notice the flip-flopping. These social media influencers continue to insult the intelligence of their followers for ‘engagement’ by assuming no one will notice. But Trump’s communication on the issue has been poor.