Tim Miller joins Jen Psaki and Ezra Levin to discuss how the Epstein files are shaking up politics—fracturing Trump’s base, angering disengaged voters, and creating a rare opportunity for Democrats if they don’t blow it.
The unfolding of this Epstein thing has the feel to me of Bill Clinton’s sex scandal 30 years ago. Which leads me to wonder about the notable silence coming from Bill Clinton today.
Bill - you hung out with Epstein; what do you know? Speak freely, we already know your “peccadillos” … so you won’t shock us. Speak.
The birthday note story was Ghislaine's family's shot across the bow. They're blackmailing Trump. Either he pardons her or they release more and destroy him. (Michael Wolff's opinion). We always said not to elect a criminal who can be blackmailed to the Presidency.
Trump is no longer in charge of the country, Ghislaine Maxwell is in charge of the country. Trump's attempt to end the Epstein case was his first rebellion against this, but now he's complying!
But this isn't good news. Ghislaine's family is a lot more competent than Trump is, they may handle this much better. The news says that she gave Trump's lawyer 100 names.
Of course it's horrible that Trump's personal lawyer talked to a convicted sex trafficker for 2 days in private to negotiate saving Trump's career, but we all know that selling Trump's base on caring about blatant corruption is hard, that's Trump's brand, abuse of power.
But the 100 names could be very effective distraction for the base. The hearings could be a very effective distraction for the base and get them back on board.
So it's important that Democrats handle this competently. Not a lot of signs of that.
I saw an Occupy Democrats video that should have been a slam dunk with the a title like
*** Melania came into the US on a Epstein Grant, not an Einstein grant - met Trump for the first on Epstein's plane for sex! ***
Instead you had to listen to Trump for the first 60% of the video then the announcer mentioned this (from an interview with Michael Wolff on The Daily Beast) in such a boring way that you could miss it!
A better one from Maria Farmer that you mentioned (as reported by Midas Touch)
*** Trump's First Wife Hung Around Schools with Ghislaine to Recruit Girls for Prostitution ***
Democrats need to learn to write tabloid headlines like this:
*** Trump Being Blackmailed, Epstein's Madam is in Control of the United States! ***
I'm quoting another poster here:
"Republicans accused Hillary Clinton of murder, eating babies, being a Lesbian, etc. Republicans accuse Michelle Obama of being a man. Republicans called Jill Biden a fake Doctor and accused her of elder abuse."
"Yet Democrats can't lower themselves to 'just asking questions' about Melania Trump's relationships in connection to Epstein. Like was she a Prostitute (escort if it makes the question easier to ask)."
"It is so frustrating. Republicans are willing to just make things up and throw them at the wall to see what sticks. Meanwhile Democrats can't even get motivated to pursue lines of inquiry that are most likely true."
Democrats need to stop trying to be morally superior, they need to WIN!
Tim, what are those good answers to "Why didn't Dems release the Epstein files?" During the Biden administration, were the files that haven't been released still under seal?
I appreciate that reply, but I don't think it answers my question.
You're *asking* questions, not answering them. We could ask additional questions, beginning with, "Why did the official investigation of Epstein instigated under the first Trump administration focus on the years between 2002 and 2005 and exclude the period when Trump and Epstein were acknowledged associates in the late '80s through the '90s?"
There are plenty more question to answer.
What I'm asking is why *did* Dems fail to release the Epstein files? Was it because they were sealed due to ongoing litigation with Maxwell? Was it something else? If there's a pre-existing coverup (like we need to protect X Dem), let the chips fall where they may. I want to know if there's a legal or procedural reason Dems didn't act when they ostensibly could have.
It's good to reach out to others, but a lot of Dems stayed home in 24 and we need to go back to them. My area did very well last year for Dems because we reached out to D voters a lot (maybe too much!). But they did come out and we won my area.
I’m wondering if trump and republicans will be able to reclaim the Epstein narrative by using Maxwell to expose a few men who broke the law. They then could say, “We went to the source and got the truth. We exposed these evil ppl. Democrats never did it when they were in power.” Wouldn’t that be enough for them to say that they kept their promise to their base?
Here’s why this will never die. I remember two ancient things (I am very old). One is “water cooler conversation” and the other is “who killed JR?”. There were certain things that everyone had an opinion about and you could express it without offending half the room. This is one of those things. This is an exciting and entertaining topic infused into lives of “quiet desperation” where everything else about our discourse is a political flashpoint.
I completely agree. I think Dems are doing poorly because of the decades long campaign that we're the hateful and intolerant ones.
Hate and intolerance (and love and grace) is not the monopoly of one party over the other.
I'd say (to my own leftie people):
(1) Be aware of your trauma. You don't have to go out and accept people who are triggering you. Protect yourself BEFORE you find yourself in a confrontational situation, and have some way of excusing yourself rehearsed for when you do feel triggered, in order to avoid lashing back. This is to protect yourself, to be clear -- digging those neural pathways of trauma any deeper isn't good for you.
(2) And, for those people who have any room left in your compassion department, remember people have other things going on and don't pay attention, or that THEY have legit trauma and are being / have been self-protective. Pre-plan how to show up and listen, and validate their experience the same way you would be with anyone else, whatever you think is a past root cause, or a future danger. Just stay, literally, present. This is the love we all seek: be present. If it stops at that, it's usually still quite possibly more than the person you're listening to has gotten this day.
(3) Now, historically, is not the time to grind an axe, to say "I told you so" etc., not even to your family members. Dig deep and be the most gracious version of yourself you can find. Ask clarifying questions. Give hug or fetch a cup of coffee, whatever the love language is of your family member.
Remember that it's part of the human condition to suffer, and ranking whose suffering is worse than someone else's is not a helpful method of triage right now.
Good luck. It's a "personal growth opportunity" as my dad would've (sardonically) said.
There’s more than the files now, a drip, drip of the past will eventually come out. Reporters and investigative journalists have been reporting for years. But the high ups hid it. I’m sure more will come out. It’s worse than you think.
Half the reason MAGA exists is because they've been told that Democrats are all 100% pedophiles, and The File was going to prove it to the world. It's pretty telling to me that we haven't seen anything from it that implicates Clinton, et al. Who knows who's in there, but Trump would rather flail around trying to make it go away rather than release it. So he must look pretty freaking bad. Like, video of him bad.
There is no way the Democrats can use this in the midterms. A child sex abuse case that involved the trafficking of children during the span of both Republican and Democratic administrations that resulted in no Johns getting indicted or even named. Neither side has covered themselves in glory on this horrific abuse story. It’s an indictment of our justice system and our societies view on wealth and power. In addition if they really were to dig into this they won’t turn up a Democrat or two?
I think that's exactly why it should be used to the hilt. Everyone wants change. No one thinks government is working for the people. This is one way to demonstrate that the party is changing to become more responsive. The Democratic party probably does people involved with Epstein and must hold them accountable. They are likely old and out of office or dead already. Are we really going to run away from justice? The stench will remain. The party can say it is turning over a new leaf: that was then, this is now. They must say we will never again tolerate any of this for power or money. There will be one rule of law for all and we will get money out of politics and out of court. If the Democratic party refuses to make that change, there will be no coming back for it or the country.
I agree with you that money in politics, and judicial reform are needed. I just can’t imagine the Epstein papers as a campaign plank. No one has walked the talk on this and the only reason it is back in the news is because a sitting president is mentioned in some documents. Some how hundreds of victims in multiple countries don’t rate the faux outrage that partisan politics has bestowed upon us. If the Dems want to go there in earnest then start locking up johns and enablers.
Your last sentence us exactly what I'm calling for. This is our government. Anyone who doesn't walk the talk doesn't deserve to be a representative of the people. This is no longer about party politics; this is about good and evil; life and death; truth and lies; democracy and destruction.
Can the Bulwark please, just once and for all, ditch its association with Jen Psaki? The woman is entirely incompetent and should never be allowed anywhere near Democratic politics again.
My case? Joe Biden had, as JVL will tell you, an entirely successful presidency in terms of what it achieved legislatively. And what, over the course of four years, did we hear from the White House, which has the most bully pulpit in the country? Crickets. Did it trumpet his achievements to the world? No. Biden’s staff never made the ongoing case for the successes of his presidency, and the blame for that lies solely at the feet of his press secretary. She’s a hack. Enough.
The Bulwark will never ditch Jen Psaki. She's a host on MSNBC. As long as she invites Bulwark talent on, she will get them, and then The Bulwark will play clips.
I also don't credit the press secretary in the White House with making any fundamental decisions about what's presented. It's a job.
I don't believe that. Now, Criminal Trump. A lie an hour. A veritable lie marathon.
No, I think the Biden Administration was very honest with the American people. They might have made mistakes, but to be a lie the falsehood has to be known to the liar and be an intentional attempt to deceive.
And people are entitled to strongly defend their opinions.
When Criminal Trump tells people that foreign nations pay tariffs, that is a falsehood so egregiously wrong that he can't possibly think it is true. When he told people immigrants were eating pets, that's so outrageously unbelievable that he should have believed the authorities in Springfield who said it wasn't true.
There are lies. There are damn lies. There's statistics. And then there's Criminal Trump.
Jen Psaki only served as Biden's press secretary for the first 16 months of his term. From May 13, 2022 through the end of Biden's term, Karine Jean-Pierre was Biden's press secretary. That is 32 months -- double the time that Psaki served. But Psaki is solely to blame, how?
Tim - the fact you were touring a swamp today and reporting on a swamp was not lost on us. Hope you had fun with the kiddos. Thanks for keeping us up to date.
Constantly force the congressional cowards into a corner. Why are you protecting the pedophiles? So if you say you're not, when are you going to commit to exposing ALL the evidence? Again and again and again.
...is that a sweater tank/shell? 😍
The unfolding of this Epstein thing has the feel to me of Bill Clinton’s sex scandal 30 years ago. Which leads me to wonder about the notable silence coming from Bill Clinton today.
Bill - you hung out with Epstein; what do you know? Speak freely, we already know your “peccadillos” … so you won’t shock us. Speak.
Not the shoulders!
The birthday note story was Ghislaine's family's shot across the bow. They're blackmailing Trump. Either he pardons her or they release more and destroy him. (Michael Wolff's opinion). We always said not to elect a criminal who can be blackmailed to the Presidency.
Trump is no longer in charge of the country, Ghislaine Maxwell is in charge of the country. Trump's attempt to end the Epstein case was his first rebellion against this, but now he's complying!
But this isn't good news. Ghislaine's family is a lot more competent than Trump is, they may handle this much better. The news says that she gave Trump's lawyer 100 names.
Of course it's horrible that Trump's personal lawyer talked to a convicted sex trafficker for 2 days in private to negotiate saving Trump's career, but we all know that selling Trump's base on caring about blatant corruption is hard, that's Trump's brand, abuse of power.
But the 100 names could be very effective distraction for the base. The hearings could be a very effective distraction for the base and get them back on board.
So it's important that Democrats handle this competently. Not a lot of signs of that.
I saw an Occupy Democrats video that should have been a slam dunk with the a title like
*** Melania came into the US on a Epstein Grant, not an Einstein grant - met Trump for the first on Epstein's plane for sex! ***
Instead you had to listen to Trump for the first 60% of the video then the announcer mentioned this (from an interview with Michael Wolff on The Daily Beast) in such a boring way that you could miss it!
A better one from Maria Farmer that you mentioned (as reported by Midas Touch)
*** Trump's First Wife Hung Around Schools with Ghislaine to Recruit Girls for Prostitution ***
Democrats need to learn to write tabloid headlines like this:
*** Trump Being Blackmailed, Epstein's Madam is in Control of the United States! ***
I'm quoting another poster here:
"Republicans accused Hillary Clinton of murder, eating babies, being a Lesbian, etc. Republicans accuse Michelle Obama of being a man. Republicans called Jill Biden a fake Doctor and accused her of elder abuse."
"Yet Democrats can't lower themselves to 'just asking questions' about Melania Trump's relationships in connection to Epstein. Like was she a Prostitute (escort if it makes the question easier to ask)."
"It is so frustrating. Republicans are willing to just make things up and throw them at the wall to see what sticks. Meanwhile Democrats can't even get motivated to pursue lines of inquiry that are most likely true."
Democrats need to stop trying to be morally superior, they need to WIN!
Tim, what are those good answers to "Why didn't Dems release the Epstein files?" During the Biden administration, were the files that haven't been released still under seal?
I appreciate that reply, but I don't think it answers my question.
You're *asking* questions, not answering them. We could ask additional questions, beginning with, "Why did the official investigation of Epstein instigated under the first Trump administration focus on the years between 2002 and 2005 and exclude the period when Trump and Epstein were acknowledged associates in the late '80s through the '90s?"
There are plenty more question to answer.
What I'm asking is why *did* Dems fail to release the Epstein files? Was it because they were sealed due to ongoing litigation with Maxwell? Was it something else? If there's a pre-existing coverup (like we need to protect X Dem), let the chips fall where they may. I want to know if there's a legal or procedural reason Dems didn't act when they ostensibly could have.
It's good to reach out to others, but a lot of Dems stayed home in 24 and we need to go back to them. My area did very well last year for Dems because we reached out to D voters a lot (maybe too much!). But they did come out and we won my area.
We can't forget those regular Dems.
I’m wondering if trump and republicans will be able to reclaim the Epstein narrative by using Maxwell to expose a few men who broke the law. They then could say, “We went to the source and got the truth. We exposed these evil ppl. Democrats never did it when they were in power.” Wouldn’t that be enough for them to say that they kept their promise to their base?
They would have already released this to distract. They are desperate.
Here’s why this will never die. I remember two ancient things (I am very old). One is “water cooler conversation” and the other is “who killed JR?”. There were certain things that everyone had an opinion about and you could express it without offending half the room. This is one of those things. This is an exciting and entertaining topic infused into lives of “quiet desperation” where everything else about our discourse is a political flashpoint.
I completely agree. I think Dems are doing poorly because of the decades long campaign that we're the hateful and intolerant ones.
Hate and intolerance (and love and grace) is not the monopoly of one party over the other.
I'd say (to my own leftie people):
(1) Be aware of your trauma. You don't have to go out and accept people who are triggering you. Protect yourself BEFORE you find yourself in a confrontational situation, and have some way of excusing yourself rehearsed for when you do feel triggered, in order to avoid lashing back. This is to protect yourself, to be clear -- digging those neural pathways of trauma any deeper isn't good for you.
(2) And, for those people who have any room left in your compassion department, remember people have other things going on and don't pay attention, or that THEY have legit trauma and are being / have been self-protective. Pre-plan how to show up and listen, and validate their experience the same way you would be with anyone else, whatever you think is a past root cause, or a future danger. Just stay, literally, present. This is the love we all seek: be present. If it stops at that, it's usually still quite possibly more than the person you're listening to has gotten this day.
(3) Now, historically, is not the time to grind an axe, to say "I told you so" etc., not even to your family members. Dig deep and be the most gracious version of yourself you can find. Ask clarifying questions. Give hug or fetch a cup of coffee, whatever the love language is of your family member.
Remember that it's part of the human condition to suffer, and ranking whose suffering is worse than someone else's is not a helpful method of triage right now.
Good luck. It's a "personal growth opportunity" as my dad would've (sardonically) said.
Brave Tim!! No way would I bare my shoulders for a swamp tour. Mosquitos don't get access to my armpits!!!
If Biden had released The Files(tm), MAGA wouldn't have believed any of it at all, esp if Trumpo is in it and Clinton, et al, are not.
I don't think releasing the files will satisfy anyone. They will all still believe it isn't everything.
There’s more than the files now, a drip, drip of the past will eventually come out. Reporters and investigative journalists have been reporting for years. But the high ups hid it. I’m sure more will come out. It’s worse than you think.
It still won't satisfy them. They are a bottomless pit.
Half the reason MAGA exists is because they've been told that Democrats are all 100% pedophiles, and The File was going to prove it to the world. It's pretty telling to me that we haven't seen anything from it that implicates Clinton, et al. Who knows who's in there, but Trump would rather flail around trying to make it go away rather than release it. So he must look pretty freaking bad. Like, video of him bad.
Oh, my word! That would make him look bad. Him there with actual Satan! Eeew.
Trump probably doesn't care so much about there being video of him, as much as everyone will see the size of his wiener.
Satan already has!
There is no way the Democrats can use this in the midterms. A child sex abuse case that involved the trafficking of children during the span of both Republican and Democratic administrations that resulted in no Johns getting indicted or even named. Neither side has covered themselves in glory on this horrific abuse story. It’s an indictment of our justice system and our societies view on wealth and power. In addition if they really were to dig into this they won’t turn up a Democrat or two?
I think that's exactly why it should be used to the hilt. Everyone wants change. No one thinks government is working for the people. This is one way to demonstrate that the party is changing to become more responsive. The Democratic party probably does people involved with Epstein and must hold them accountable. They are likely old and out of office or dead already. Are we really going to run away from justice? The stench will remain. The party can say it is turning over a new leaf: that was then, this is now. They must say we will never again tolerate any of this for power or money. There will be one rule of law for all and we will get money out of politics and out of court. If the Democratic party refuses to make that change, there will be no coming back for it or the country.
I agree with you that money in politics, and judicial reform are needed. I just can’t imagine the Epstein papers as a campaign plank. No one has walked the talk on this and the only reason it is back in the news is because a sitting president is mentioned in some documents. Some how hundreds of victims in multiple countries don’t rate the faux outrage that partisan politics has bestowed upon us. If the Dems want to go there in earnest then start locking up johns and enablers.
Your last sentence us exactly what I'm calling for. This is our government. Anyone who doesn't walk the talk doesn't deserve to be a representative of the people. This is no longer about party politics; this is about good and evil; life and death; truth and lies; democracy and destruction.
Tim showing off his shoulders! 😉lol
Can the Bulwark please, just once and for all, ditch its association with Jen Psaki? The woman is entirely incompetent and should never be allowed anywhere near Democratic politics again.
My case? Joe Biden had, as JVL will tell you, an entirely successful presidency in terms of what it achieved legislatively. And what, over the course of four years, did we hear from the White House, which has the most bully pulpit in the country? Crickets. Did it trumpet his achievements to the world? No. Biden’s staff never made the ongoing case for the successes of his presidency, and the blame for that lies solely at the feet of his press secretary. She’s a hack. Enough.
The Bulwark will never ditch Jen Psaki. She's a host on MSNBC. As long as she invites Bulwark talent on, she will get them, and then The Bulwark will play clips.
I also don't credit the press secretary in the White House with making any fundamental decisions about what's presented. It's a job.
I don't believe that. Now, Criminal Trump. A lie an hour. A veritable lie marathon.
No, I think the Biden Administration was very honest with the American people. They might have made mistakes, but to be a lie the falsehood has to be known to the liar and be an intentional attempt to deceive.
And people are entitled to strongly defend their opinions.
When Criminal Trump tells people that foreign nations pay tariffs, that is a falsehood so egregiously wrong that he can't possibly think it is true. When he told people immigrants were eating pets, that's so outrageously unbelievable that he should have believed the authorities in Springfield who said it wasn't true.
There are lies. There are damn lies. There's statistics. And then there's Criminal Trump.
Note the spectrum?
Jen Psaki only served as Biden's press secretary for the first 16 months of his term. From May 13, 2022 through the end of Biden's term, Karine Jean-Pierre was Biden's press secretary. That is 32 months -- double the time that Psaki served. But Psaki is solely to blame, how?
Tim - the fact you were touring a swamp today and reporting on a swamp was not lost on us. Hope you had fun with the kiddos. Thanks for keeping us up to date.
Constantly force the congressional cowards into a corner. Why are you protecting the pedophiles? So if you say you're not, when are you going to commit to exposing ALL the evidence? Again and again and again.
Yes, this!