This week, the internet was set abuzz by a memo from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice about the Jeffrey Epstein case. Epstein, of course, was found hanging in his cell in a New York jail in August 2019, after his arrest on charges of sex trafficking of underage girls. Ever since then, speculation has run rampant that he was actually murdered; that he and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell were trafficking those girls to rich, famous and powerful men; that he may have been working for a domestic or foreign intelligence agency; and that all of this was covered up by high-ranking members of the federal government.
The memo from the DOJ and FBI, however, came to precisely the opposite conclusion: “This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’ There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties. … After a thorough investigation, FBI investigators concluded that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide.”
An enormous number of Americans were deeply disturbed by this memo. After years of being told by prominent commentators and politicians that the so-called Epstein List would be revealed once President Donald Trump took office, that there would be a reckoning for these largely unnamed powerful men, that Americans would learn the entire truth about the piece of human debris who was Jeffrey Epstein, instead Americans were told that there was nothing in the vault after all.
Now, this leaves two choices.
First, there is the possibility that members of the Trump administration are in on it — that the conspiracy actually now includes Attorney General Pam Bondi, who vowed to disclose everything Epstein related; FBI Director Kash Patel, who called for the release of the supposed Epstein list before entering office; FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who as a radio and podcast host was strongly skeptical of the conventional narrative surrounding Epstein; Vice President JD Vance, who told a podcast host just weeks ago that the Epstein list would require release; and Trump himself, who advocated for that position during the campaign. To believe this, you’d have to believe that all of these people entered office and then promptly reversed themselves on Epstein because they want to cover for the most scandalous pedophile ring of all time. Few who posit this possibility are willing to state it clearly; instead they hide behind suggestion and vagary. But that is the position: that Epstein was a member or asset of an intelligence agency, for example, and that the Trump administration is now fully complicit in covering up the mass rape of children.
Then there’s the second possibility: that members of the Trump administration honestly believed that they would be able to unmask a hideous ring of pedophilic activity — and then examined the evidence and found it didn’t justify their suspicions. Frankly, I find this possibility far more plausible than the first possibility: I don’t believe that Bondi, Patel, Bongino, Vance and Trump are so evil that they would cover for a full-scale pedophile ring. I could be wrong. But I generally like to have actual evidence of a cover-up of this magnitude before accusing people of covering up mass child rape.
But perhaps I’m wrong. That’s certainly possible. And if that happens, I’d change my opinion on the Epstein case and the people currently putting it to rest. Until then, I’d suggest that before slandering the entire Trump administration, many of his most ardent supporters examine that second possibility: that the Epstein allegations were oversold, and that good people have looked at the evidence and come to a conclusion based on that evidence. If not, they ought to have the courage of their convictions and say what they believe: that all of the members of the Trump administration are guilty of covering up a pedophilic sex trafficking ring.
