In an era of conspiracy-riddled politics, especially coming from Donald Trump and the Republican Party, sometimes the brain-addled conspiracies go too far and come back to bite the accuser. That is what has happened with the controversy over releasing the Epstein files. In the mad rush from Republicans to find the participants of Jeffrey Epstein’s rumored pedophilia ring (who they supposed to be powerful Democrats) and release government documents about his various criminal cases, which Trump campaigned on, the finger has turned to point directly at the president himself. It really must be a pickle when the crimes you ran on exposing actually end up involving you, and Trump is feeling that pressure. He still says there’s “nothing to hide,” but with House Republicans voting to release the files on Nov. 18; the right has encircled itself in a web of conspiracy, and there might be no getting out.
The case of Epstein has long been a boogeyman for the MAGA crowd. Ever since Epstein died in his cell while awaiting a trial over allegations of sex trafficking minors, conspiracies have swirled that he was murdered by his wealthy clients, who supposedly wanted to hide their connections to the shady financier. During the campaign, Trump was all too happy to play into the rumors, declaring that he would declassify the Epstein files. In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the files were sitting on her desk, ready to be reviewed and released. But the calculus changed in July when the Justice Department suddenly said there was no Epstein client list, and that no further documents would be declassified. Upon receiving intense anger from MAGA, Trump tried to cool the situation down and deflect attention away, but some House Republicans pushed ahead anyway, including prolific Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Given that the Senate, without even holding a vote, approved the release as well, the bill will now be sent to Trump’s desk to sign. It’s worth mentioning, however, that Trump has the power to declassify the files right now, using his executive authority over the Justice Department. There’s nothing in the way except his own hesitancy to do so — a hesitancy that led him to personally call House members in an attempt to dissuade them from voting yes.
Trump was right to worry. House Democrats on the Oversight Committee recently released emails from Epstein and others in his circle that mentioned Trump, including a message that said, “Trump knew about the girls.” In this context, that means Trump at least was aware of Epstein’s dealings with minors — not a great look by any stretch of the imagination. Despite Trump denying constantly that he was not that close with Epstein, the evidence is piling up, and his attempts to quiet the discourse are getting more desperate — he lashed out at a Bloomberg reporter when she tried to ask about releasing the files, saying “Quiet, piggy.” Trump’s casual misogyny notwithstanding, his grip on the situation is slipping away, which might be why he finally agreed with voting yes on the Epstein bill on Sunday.
Is this a trap Trump can escape? In the past, he has shown an uncanny ability to simply weather storms of controversies that would topple any other president, largely thanks to the loyalty of his party; not even the insurrection he incited on Jan. 6 stirred Republicans to remove him from office. There are still options for Trump, as there always seem to be for a president willing to go above and beyond to escape accountability. He has recently directed the Justice Department to investigate Democrats who may be mentioned in the files, and he could claim that these investigations mean no files can be released without legal trouble. Even if the files are released, they might be heavily edited to excise anything that paints Trump in a negative light.
But now some of the loudest voices pushing to see the Epstein files are Republicans, and radical, extremely right-wing ones at that. The danger for Trump has always been whether his MAGA movement will outgrow and evolve past him. As the trap closes in from his right, Trump may need to fully release the files just to satisfy MAGA’s hunger for answers as to who consorted with Epstein. And if one of those answers is Trump, the firestorm he helped light might consume him too.