Playing Hide and Seek with the Epstein File

 

Pssst. Donald…It ain’t working.

Donald Trump is in trouble. And Donald Trump knows it.

The Teflon Don, able to convince his followers to shrug off and ignore every scandal, every mocking of the handicapped and the unfortunate, every lie, every inconsistency, every act of stupidity, every law he has violated, the bragging of sexual assault and leading a violent attack on Congress to steal an election, has finally found himself sinking in a political tarpit …and his method of pulling himself from the tarpit is less than grabbing a rope to pull himself out but instead using a shovel to dig himself deeper and deeper.

That tarpit is the Epstein file and whether or not he is included in the file. Despite Trump’s claims that he is not, the circumstantial evidence says he is.

When asked if he ever observed Trump in the company of underaged girls, Jeffery Epstein’s response during a disposition was “though I’d like to answer that question…I am going to have to assert my 5^th, 6^th and 14^th amendment rights.” You have to think a “no” answer, if Trump was never engaged with underaged girls, would have been an easy response if that were the case.

In Trump’s own words, something he and Epstein had in common was that “he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” How young?

According to Trump in a Howard Stern interview, he acknowledged liking younger women but did have a line he would not cross: “…(not) like Congressman Foley, with 12 year olds.”

Trump bragged about walking into dressing rooms while teenage girls were undressed at his Miss Teen USA beauty pageants. “As the owner, you sort of get away with things like that.”

Trump was caught on tape lusting over an underaged girl as they each rode the escalator in opposite directions. A friend of Trump’s shared the story of how when they were playing tennis Trump mentioned to him that he found the teenage girl playing in a nearby court attractive and the friend had to advise Trump that the girl was his daughter.

Even with adult women he is immoral. He brags about sexually assaulting women. He was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman. Epstein shared that Trump would use Epstein’s Manhattan apartment to “f### his friend’s wives.” Epstein says when he asked Trump why he is obsessed with having sex with these women, Trump’s reply was “because it’s so bad.”

The question then, is how bad can “it’s so bad” be to pleasure him? One woman has said Trump and Epstein “raped” her when she was 13.

While Trump says he never visited Epstein’s island, in clarifying this he said “I have never had the privilege to visit.” It should be noted that it came out during Epstein’s legal proceedings that underaged sex also occurred in his Manhattan apartment. You don’t have to literally go to the island for Epstein’s services.

So how suspicious is it that Trump not only might have had inappropriate relations with underaged women but also in connection with Epstein? Trump and his administration’s own words and actions make it more and more suspicious.

His Attorney General Pam Bondi stated she had the Epstein file with all its damning evidence on her desk. She said she would soon be releasing it. But then Elon Musk tweets that the reason the file had been withheld is that Trump’s name is included in the file. Bondi’s eventual response to that: there is no such client list. It doesn’t exist.

Trump then fired the prosecutor in the Epstein case.

Trump, who pledged to his base who long sought the release of the files that he would release all the files once elected, now says it is all a hoax. A client list doesn’t exist. When his base objected and continued to call for its release, he condemned those in MAGA who keep pursuing the issue as “fools” and “losers” and instructed them to drop it. His daily obsession and anger with their pursuit for more information, as well as his practice of deflecting questions about the Epstein file by redirecting reporters to wild accusations against the likes of Barak Obama and Oprah Winfrey, only make him appear to be hiding something.

Trump insisted he knows his name does not appear in any Epstein file. Now we know that he was advised by the DOJ in May that his name appears in the file multiple times. That is how Musk learned Trump is included.

His explanation of a file changes frequently. It exists and has been hidden by Democrats because Democrats are listed. It doesn’t exist. It exists, but it is a fake file created by Democrats to frame Trump and Republicans.

On one hand he says no file exists and he has never seen a list of Epstein clients. But then he claims he has seen the evidence that certain Democrats have been on the island, including Bill Clinton “28 times.”

When it became obvious that the House had the votes to order the release of the files, Trump had House Speaker Mike Johnson cut the House off at the pass by closing Congress early. It will not resume for two months. What is happening during this pause? Trump has sent the Assistant Attorney General who served as Trump’s personal attorney during the Stormy Daniels case to meet with Epstein’s convicted partner in the sex crimes for private discussions.

What could be the objective of these sudden discussions? Given Trump’s history of giving pardons to convicted felons who agree to support him, is it unreasonable to believe a pardon is being discussed if she supports his claim that he was never involved?

So, what should happen when Congress returns? Any testimony by brothel madam Ghislaine Maxwell may now be questionable. She may lie in exchange for a pardon. But she can’t change the file itself and an unredacted file won’t lie. Congress must return to ordering the release of the file.

And if Speaker Johnson and Republican Congressmen refuse to do that? That is something they must answer for in next year’s elections.

Big Beautiful Bill or Big Bad Wolf?

 

The Big Bad Wolf is knocking at your door. Little did we know a few years ago that the Big Bad Wolf would be wearing a red cap.

I’m not referring to the MAGA capped Big Bad Wolf knocking on the doors of immigrants and those protesting Trump’s positions on Gaza, I’m talking about YOUR door.

Trump’s tax bill – which he has marketed as the “Big Beautiful Bill” – negatively impacts everyone in one way or the other.

Loss of net income for 20% of households. According to a study at Yale, the bottom 20% of wage earners will come out 2.9% less in net earnings, while the top 20% will experience a 2.2% increase. Meanwhile, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that the top 1% on average will see their taxes reduced by $66,000 and specific case studies in Texas saw their top millionaires getting a tax reduction of $100,000.

Higher electric rates and energy shortages. The bill seeks to kill renewable energy in favor of coal and other fossil fuel which not only sacrifices our environment from clean energy to toxic pollutants, but it is also projected to impact your utility bill. To cripple expansion of clean energy systems, the bill puts heavy taxes on wind and solar energy projects and strips away tax credits for homeowners who switch to solar. Senator Brian Schatz (HI) points out that 80% of new capacity on the grid came from solar energy last year, and crippling renewable energy systems will “cost people - ratepayers - $60 Billion in this decade alone. Your electric bills are about to go up.”

Interest rates on mortgages and the cost of living can go up. A growing national debt risks increasing interest rates, lowering the country’s credit standing, weakening the dollar and increasing inflation thus increasing the cost of living.

According to the bi-partisan Congressional Budget Office that Congress depends upon for impartial and accurate fiscal analysis of proposed legislation, Trump’s bill is going to add $3.9 Trillion to our debt. This is due to extending Trump’s tax cuts to the billionaire class which itself is projected to amount to a loss of $4 Trillion in revenue. While a shell game is being conducted to suggest that cuts in services to the public could offset this lost revenue, huge increases in defense spending of $153 Billion which includes $25 Billion to fund Trump’s scheme to attempt a dome covering the continental US to shoot down incoming missiles coupled with multiple tax cuts overrides the cuts in services and results in massive debt.

Nursing homes can close. A study by Brown University reveals that 579 nursing homes may close because of the bill’s Medicaid cuts.

In-Home Health Care Services will be cut. Two studies indicate that 477,000 health care workers will lose their jobs due to Medicaid cuts meaning 477,000 disabled persons will not continue receiving their in-home care. They also estimate another 411,000 jobs associated with needed health care will be lost.

Rural hospitals are expected to close. Independent rural hospitals are on track to lose an estimated $465 million in total patient revenue due to the Medicaid cuts in the bill, or an average of $630,665 per hospital with according to one analysis puts 55 hospitals at risk of shutting down.

17 Million people will lose health insurance. The CBO estimates the bill’s changes to health insurance will cost 17 Million people their coverage. This includes cuts to Medicaid as well as removing the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies that made purchasing private health insurance affordable to many who are not eligible for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance.

Lower income families will lose food assistance. The CBO indicates all of the 42 Million households who depend on food subsidies will either see lower amounts of assistance or completely lose food benefits. An example is a single Multiple Sclerosis adult living on $900 per month. She receives $140 in SNAP to help with her food costs – which already falls short. She has been advised to expect that amount to be lowered once Trump’s bill goes into effect. 270,000 homeless are expected to be cut off. Breakfast and lunch programs provided at schools for children from poor families is being slashed or eliminated.

Less Opportunity to send our children to college. Today’s college students are dependent upon student loans. The bill changes eligibility requirements to loans eliminating some households who had previously been eligible; lowers the maximum amount that can be borrowed annually to $20,000 when the average cost is $39,000; and makes repayment of loans at a higher percentage of post-graduation income. The Student Borrower Protection Center estimates college will be costing these students an additional $3,000 per year.

Clean Energy is being put on the back burner. Tax incentives to assist people in installing clean energy alternatives in their homes are ending. Tax incentives to encourage investment and development of wind and solar energy are ending. War has been declared on electric vehicles: the tax incentives for production and purchase of electric vehicles are also ending.

Clearly the primary targets for increased wealth in Trump’s tax policy is the upper 20% of Americans at the expense of the bottom 20% in particular, with random shots at the middle class. Even more clearly is the growing autocratic power of Donald Trump who has the ability to drive Republican legislators into approving a bill that 59% of Americans wanted their legislators to reject.

And while Trump and the GOP removed safety nets for lower income households, the disabled and senior citizens, they include a safety net for themselves by postponing implementation of the Medicaid cuts until after the November 2026 elections, avoiding being held accountable by their constituents who will suffer.

Trump has huffed and he has puffed and he has blown our medical, financial, educational and environmental security down.