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!
Ok, I’ll bite: why DIDN’T Dems to do anything about Epstein?
You say there are legitimate reasons. What are they? Were they busy letting all the GFC banksters off the hook? Occupied with looking the other way while Trump was running around with Russian agents under FISA surveillance?
Or maybe because it was because they were mass incarcerating more poor black and brown people than at any other time?
There has been a Democrat in the Oval Office for 12 years since Acosta gave Epstein AND his criminal associates a free pass.
Why didn’t Dems do a god damn thing?
You should ask Weissmann that question.
Or better still, ask Preet Bharara, who undertook the first Reputation Redemption Tour of the Trump era.
Let me answer that question indirectly. Let's pretend Weissmann is a street cop. Allow me to set a scene:
A tax attorney, high up in his corner office in downtown Manhattan, looks down at the 4-way intersection below him while sipping on his morning coffee.
The cop, walking his beat, enters that intersection. To his left, he observes a pedestrian crossing against the lights. But to his right, through the plate-glass windows of a bank, he observes a robbery in progress. The bank robber shoots and kills the guard, grabs a civilian, and, using her as a human shield, makes his way out onto the street. A crowd forms around them, which the bank robber / killer / hostage taker tells to "get back!". They fall back as they see the robber cock the gun against the hostage's head. The hostage screams in fear for her life.
The cop, throwing all caution to the wind, races full speed across the street and, in a heroic, epic move, tackles the criminal. The criminal protests, struggling, saying he did nothing wrong! Still, the cop's training has kicked in, and he turns the criminal over onto his stomach, slapping the cuffs on him before, single-handedly, dragging him to the back of his cruiser.
All the way to the station, the criminal protests. He didn't do anything wrong! "You've got the wrong guy!" he says. Gruffly, the cop tells him to "shut it". The hero cop drags the criminal before the portly desk sergeant, who looks up from his morning coffee, and says, "Well, what did this guy do?"
And the cop answers with one word:
"Jaywalking".
Now, Brad, you're pretty smart, so you probably saw that coming, didn't you? And you know who the most dangerous criminal was that morning at the intersection, right?
I'm not a fan of trick questions so I'm going to pass on that one.
I seriously don't know what Weismann did or didn't do regarding Epstein that was wrong. I have no problem believing he did or didn't do something that was wrong. But I've looked, and I can't find anything.
The most dangerous criminal that morning at the intersection was the tax attorney, drinking his coffee. He had just finished money laundering 100x more money than the bank robber had stolen. That money would result in 100x more deaths than the guard that was murdered, and 100x more traffic'd women than the bank robber took hostage.
But nobody thinks the guy in the suit can be the criminal.
If you ever need to be enraged, read "The ChickenShit Club" by Jesse Eisinger. It tells the story of the failure of prosecutors, judges, and legislators to prevent the rise of elite impunity, which is the failure to hold the wealthy, the privileged, and the politically connected legally accountable.
It's quite a ride. Weissmann features prominently.
But to get to your specific question of Weissmann and Epstein, I hope that we are can agree on the following:
1. Both Trump and Epstein have been committing fraud and money laundering for decades.
2. Both Trump and Epstein have both been committing sex crimes for decades.
3. We accept Julie K. Brown's reporting on Epstein.
Weissmann became GC for the FBI in 2011, a few years after the 2006-2008 FBI investigation into Epstein. In that position, he MUST have known of Operation Leap-year (the investigation into Epstein), resulting in perhaps the most corrupt agreement in DOJ history: the non-prosecution agreement of Epstein and dozens of other johns for child sex trafficking.
Weissmann did nothing about that atrocity.
And that's what my criticism of Weissmann is: not malfeasance, but nonfeasance. The violation of oath by NOT doing your job, by NOT abiding by your ethical obligation, by NOT going after the tax attorney sipping coffee that you know is criminal.
In 2015 Weissmann he headed the criminal fraud section of the DOJ. Again, both Trump and Epstein, who had committed every fraud in the US Code of Justice, escaped scrutiny. I'm sure a lot of poor, less privileged people did not.
And then, of course, comes the Mueller investigation. Mueller decided early on that he could never indict Trump, and hence couldn't even do a proper investigation ... but failed to tell the public. We, the public, thought a REAL investigation was ongoing, a chance to save the Republic. Remember "wait for Mueller!" But Mueller ... and Weissmann, his right-hand man ... stayed silent, and let us believe the lie.
But the biggest failure of Weissmann in the Mueller investigation was the failure to follow the money. This would have been the most basic element of any investigation, the documented part. But ... they just didn't do it. More outrageous is the fact that Weissmann's last job WAS as the money-following guy at the criminal fraud section of DOJ.
So did Weissmann rape children on Epstein island? No. But he stayed silent when Epstein was getting away with it.
Was Weissmann complicit with Trump? No, he just didn't investigate him, but allowed the public to believe that he did.
Will do. If you see any new articles detailing how the DOJ, across multiple administrations, was chickenshit when it came to investigating the Epstein story, please send them my way. Thanks again.
I've got a bad feeling you are right. I didn't plan on going deep down this rabbit hole. But now I think I need to do some work. I'll keep reading your commentary on this site. If I have questions, or if I find anything revealing as I dig deeper, I'll let you know.
I think nothing was ever released because there are people on both sides implicated.The powerful and well connected protecting the other powerful and well connected. At this point we know for sure both Trump and Clinton are in there and who else.
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.
"What I'm asking is why *did* Dems fail to release the Epstein files?"
Sorry, maybe I should have been clearer in my post.
TL;DR: Dems covered up a massive criminal conspiracy because they are "institutionalists".
Some of the phrases I hear all the time is "we have to protect institutions from Trump" or "the institutions must hold" or even, and I kid you not, "the institutions will save us".
But as we can clearly see NOW, the institutions, such as the FBI, DOJ, DHS, BOP, and even SCOTUS, will not save us.
And honestly, they never were going to save us. They've been broken for a long time. There is an old saying: "when it comes to the US Justice system, it is better to be guilty and rich than innocent and poor". And that is true.
Rich, white, privileged men have been "getting away with it" forever.
So - no - I don't think Obama or Biden had sex with children on Epstein island (but I wouldn't be shocked if Clinton did).
But when the DOJ and FBI were compromised by Epstein, for whatever reason (such as he was a Mossad agent who had compromising information on Western leaders*), and was given an incredible immunity agreement, Obama and Biden protected those institutions, rather than let the truth come out.
The problem is now Trump, in an effort to protect himself, will selectively release ALL those internal FBI and DOJ documents about Epstein from the Obama, Biden and maybe even Clinton eras.
* the way we'll know if Epstein was a Mossad agent or not will be WHEN Trump makes a deal with Maxwell, and she is pardoned and released, where will she end up? My guess: Israel. Remember, we now know Israel was blackmailing Clinton over Lewinski.
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.
So, there are really four, roughly equal sized, possible voting groups:
1. Republicans,
2. Independents,
3. Democrats, and
4. Non-voters.
Now, to be fair, non-voters exceeded both Harris or Trump voters in 2024.
Now, The Bulwark and DNC spent ENORMOUS quantities of resources in 2024 trying to peel off a few percentage of Republican voters to vote for Harris. I don't know why, but that's what happened.
The DNC actively discouraged progressives, Muslims and young voters coming out in 2024. The kindest thing you can say is that they didn't actively reach out to that cohort who would vote for anyone except Donald Trump ... except for the fact there was an ongoing genocide that Harris supported.
(Please note, Israel will still be killing civilians in 2026 and 2028, so this problem will remain).
So, if reaching out to Republicans doesn't work, and the DNC loathes progressives with the heat of 1,000 suns, the only group left are non-voters, a large blue-ocean of available votes.
Now Trump tapped quite a few of these people over the last 10 years with his cruelty, criminality, xenophobia and racism.
But I think there are still many non-voters that Democrats COULD reach out to - if we could find a way to motivate them.
And I think the best way to motivate them is for them to experience the full and undiluted Republican governing experience.
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.
...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!
Ok, I’ll bite: why DIDN’T Dems to do anything about Epstein?
You say there are legitimate reasons. What are they? Were they busy letting all the GFC banksters off the hook? Occupied with looking the other way while Trump was running around with Russian agents under FISA surveillance?
Or maybe because it was because they were mass incarcerating more poor black and brown people than at any other time?
There has been a Democrat in the Oval Office for 12 years since Acosta gave Epstein AND his criminal associates a free pass.
Why didn’t Dems do a god damn thing?
You should ask Weissmann that question.
Or better still, ask Preet Bharara, who undertook the first Reputation Redemption Tour of the Trump era.
https://open.substack.com/pub/parrhizzia1/p/the-authentic-credible-and-good-answers?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
I hope you keep asking these questions.
I created Parrhizzia just to ask these questions.
There is nothing that drives me crazier than platforming the very DOJ mofos who violated their oaths as some kind of heroes.
If I were Andrew Weissmann, I’d never have the gall to show my face in public. Shameless.
Could you provide specifics on what Weissmann did wrong?
Let me answer that question indirectly. Let's pretend Weissmann is a street cop. Allow me to set a scene:
A tax attorney, high up in his corner office in downtown Manhattan, looks down at the 4-way intersection below him while sipping on his morning coffee.
The cop, walking his beat, enters that intersection. To his left, he observes a pedestrian crossing against the lights. But to his right, through the plate-glass windows of a bank, he observes a robbery in progress. The bank robber shoots and kills the guard, grabs a civilian, and, using her as a human shield, makes his way out onto the street. A crowd forms around them, which the bank robber / killer / hostage taker tells to "get back!". They fall back as they see the robber cock the gun against the hostage's head. The hostage screams in fear for her life.
The cop, throwing all caution to the wind, races full speed across the street and, in a heroic, epic move, tackles the criminal. The criminal protests, struggling, saying he did nothing wrong! Still, the cop's training has kicked in, and he turns the criminal over onto his stomach, slapping the cuffs on him before, single-handedly, dragging him to the back of his cruiser.
All the way to the station, the criminal protests. He didn't do anything wrong! "You've got the wrong guy!" he says. Gruffly, the cop tells him to "shut it". The hero cop drags the criminal before the portly desk sergeant, who looks up from his morning coffee, and says, "Well, what did this guy do?"
And the cop answers with one word:
"Jaywalking".
Now, Brad, you're pretty smart, so you probably saw that coming, didn't you? And you know who the most dangerous criminal was that morning at the intersection, right?
(Be careful, this is a trick question).
I'm not a fan of trick questions so I'm going to pass on that one.
I seriously don't know what Weismann did or didn't do regarding Epstein that was wrong. I have no problem believing he did or didn't do something that was wrong. But I've looked, and I can't find anything.
Oh, man, you're no fun!
The most dangerous criminal that morning at the intersection was the tax attorney, drinking his coffee. He had just finished money laundering 100x more money than the bank robber had stolen. That money would result in 100x more deaths than the guard that was murdered, and 100x more traffic'd women than the bank robber took hostage.
But nobody thinks the guy in the suit can be the criminal.
If you ever need to be enraged, read "The ChickenShit Club" by Jesse Eisinger. It tells the story of the failure of prosecutors, judges, and legislators to prevent the rise of elite impunity, which is the failure to hold the wealthy, the privileged, and the politically connected legally accountable.
It's quite a ride. Weissmann features prominently.
But to get to your specific question of Weissmann and Epstein, I hope that we are can agree on the following:
1. Both Trump and Epstein have been committing fraud and money laundering for decades.
2. Both Trump and Epstein have both been committing sex crimes for decades.
3. We accept Julie K. Brown's reporting on Epstein.
Weissmann became GC for the FBI in 2011, a few years after the 2006-2008 FBI investigation into Epstein. In that position, he MUST have known of Operation Leap-year (the investigation into Epstein), resulting in perhaps the most corrupt agreement in DOJ history: the non-prosecution agreement of Epstein and dozens of other johns for child sex trafficking.
Weissmann did nothing about that atrocity.
And that's what my criticism of Weissmann is: not malfeasance, but nonfeasance. The violation of oath by NOT doing your job, by NOT abiding by your ethical obligation, by NOT going after the tax attorney sipping coffee that you know is criminal.
In 2015 Weissmann he headed the criminal fraud section of the DOJ. Again, both Trump and Epstein, who had committed every fraud in the US Code of Justice, escaped scrutiny. I'm sure a lot of poor, less privileged people did not.
And then, of course, comes the Mueller investigation. Mueller decided early on that he could never indict Trump, and hence couldn't even do a proper investigation ... but failed to tell the public. We, the public, thought a REAL investigation was ongoing, a chance to save the Republic. Remember "wait for Mueller!" But Mueller ... and Weissmann, his right-hand man ... stayed silent, and let us believe the lie.
But the biggest failure of Weissmann in the Mueller investigation was the failure to follow the money. This would have been the most basic element of any investigation, the documented part. But ... they just didn't do it. More outrageous is the fact that Weissmann's last job WAS as the money-following guy at the criminal fraud section of DOJ.
So did Weissmann rape children on Epstein island? No. But he stayed silent when Epstein was getting away with it.
Was Weissmann complicit with Trump? No, he just didn't investigate him, but allowed the public to believe that he did.
If you want more, read The ChickenShit Club.
I really appreciate the detailed background on Weissmann and the book recommendation. I will read the book.
I have a lot of work to do to catch up on this story. So, for now all I can say is thank you for taking the time to help me get started.
You are most welcome.
If you get to read the book, please, feel free to give me your review.
You probably know all this...but I still wanted to send it:
https://www.dailywire.com/news/lawyer-asks-doj-to-look-into-why-fbi-utterly-failed-to-investigate-jeffrey-epstein
Thank you.
No, I wasn’t aware of this element. But it doesn’t surprise me.
I think we’re going to see a lot of these stories over the next few weeks and months.
Will do. If you see any new articles detailing how the DOJ, across multiple administrations, was chickenshit when it came to investigating the Epstein story, please send them my way. Thanks again.
I'm no expert on this issue. However, your questions make sense to me.
Ds sat on their collective asses and did nothing for years and now all of sudden they get religion? It smells like partisan bullshit to me.
I respect Tim a lot. But I have my doubts that Ds had legitimate reasons for their inaction. I'm curious to see where Tim is going with this.
There are no legitimate reasons for Obama and Biden to ignore a massive child sex trafficking ring for 12 years.
Is Trump guilty? Sure. Fuck him.
Did Obama and Biden both cover up for the institutions that were covering up for the men who fucked children? Seems like it. Fuck them too.
Tim is playing a dangerous game if he thinks the damage to Democrats will be limited to Bill Clinton if this all comes out.
https://open.substack.com/pub/parrhizzia1/p/the-authentic-credible-and-good-answers?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
I've got a bad feeling you are right. I didn't plan on going deep down this rabbit hole. But now I think I need to do some work. I'll keep reading your commentary on this site. If I have questions, or if I find anything revealing as I dig deeper, I'll let you know.
I think nothing was ever released because there are people on both sides implicated.The powerful and well connected protecting the other powerful and well connected. At this point we know for sure both Trump and Clinton are in there and who else.
It could be so much worse than JUST Bill Clinton.
https://open.substack.com/pub/parrhizzia1/p/the-authentic-credible-and-good-answers?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
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 wrote up an answer:
https://open.substack.com/pub/parrhizzia1/p/the-authentic-credible-and-good-answers?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
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.
"What I'm asking is why *did* Dems fail to release the Epstein files?"
Sorry, maybe I should have been clearer in my post.
TL;DR: Dems covered up a massive criminal conspiracy because they are "institutionalists".
Some of the phrases I hear all the time is "we have to protect institutions from Trump" or "the institutions must hold" or even, and I kid you not, "the institutions will save us".
But as we can clearly see NOW, the institutions, such as the FBI, DOJ, DHS, BOP, and even SCOTUS, will not save us.
And honestly, they never were going to save us. They've been broken for a long time. There is an old saying: "when it comes to the US Justice system, it is better to be guilty and rich than innocent and poor". And that is true.
Rich, white, privileged men have been "getting away with it" forever.
So - no - I don't think Obama or Biden had sex with children on Epstein island (but I wouldn't be shocked if Clinton did).
But when the DOJ and FBI were compromised by Epstein, for whatever reason (such as he was a Mossad agent who had compromising information on Western leaders*), and was given an incredible immunity agreement, Obama and Biden protected those institutions, rather than let the truth come out.
The problem is now Trump, in an effort to protect himself, will selectively release ALL those internal FBI and DOJ documents about Epstein from the Obama, Biden and maybe even Clinton eras.
* the way we'll know if Epstein was a Mossad agent or not will be WHEN Trump makes a deal with Maxwell, and she is pardoned and released, where will she end up? My guess: Israel. Remember, we now know Israel was blackmailing Clinton over Lewinski.
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/did-benjamin-netanyahu-blackmail
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.
So, there are really four, roughly equal sized, possible voting groups:
1. Republicans,
2. Independents,
3. Democrats, and
4. Non-voters.
Now, to be fair, non-voters exceeded both Harris or Trump voters in 2024.
Now, The Bulwark and DNC spent ENORMOUS quantities of resources in 2024 trying to peel off a few percentage of Republican voters to vote for Harris. I don't know why, but that's what happened.
The DNC actively discouraged progressives, Muslims and young voters coming out in 2024. The kindest thing you can say is that they didn't actively reach out to that cohort who would vote for anyone except Donald Trump ... except for the fact there was an ongoing genocide that Harris supported.
(Please note, Israel will still be killing civilians in 2026 and 2028, so this problem will remain).
So, if reaching out to Republicans doesn't work, and the DNC loathes progressives with the heat of 1,000 suns, the only group left are non-voters, a large blue-ocean of available votes.
Now Trump tapped quite a few of these people over the last 10 years with his cruelty, criminality, xenophobia and racism.
But I think there are still many non-voters that Democrats COULD reach out to - if we could find a way to motivate them.
And I think the best way to motivate them is for them to experience the full and undiluted Republican governing experience.
Well, that's my 2c.
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?
It's gonna be bad.
https://open.substack.com/pub/parrhizzia1/p/the-authentic-credible-and-good-answers?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
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?
There has been a Democrat in office nearly 3x as long as Republicans have been in office since the 2008 Acosta deal.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/tim-miller-epstein-outrage-is-breaking/comment/139522168?r=3hh94p&utm_medium=ios
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.
It's a job, true, but she also swore an oath to uphold the law.
We know a lot of Biden people violated that oath, told lies that they knew were lies.
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.