Why We Want to See the Epstein Files

To be honest, since a lot of the files will be rather salacious by nature, I don't want to see the files themselves, but I do want to have reasonable assurance that the DOJ and Virgin Islands authorities have done a good investigation. That would include who worked there (and have they been interviewed?), what digital records (e.g. security cameras) have been obtained and reviewed, who went there (flight records, etc., and have they been interviewed), and things like that.

In other words, don't just tell me there was nothing there; tell us how many people you interviewed, what likely leads you had, etc.. I know that at least two of the women victimized by Epstein also said that others were involved, so I'm skeptical of the notion that there are no other cases to be made.

If I had copies of the files, I’d want to feed them to Claude or ChatGPT or Gemini and ask for a summary that includes a table of important statistics including the items you mentioned.

But is it just me or is it kind of fishy that Trump is so vehement against the files seeing the light of day? I mean, why does he even care, let alone care so much?

I want them released.

Seeing them changed everyone’s tune on releasing.

There are people who have never made a peep about wanting them released. My GUESS is that they know they themselves are implicated.

Trump, in my recollection, talked consistently about the need to release them. But now, not so much. He’s casting doubt on their authenticity. Why would he do those? Possibilities:

1. He was an islander and release was always a lie
2. He’s on the lists, but knows he never went, so he’s calling them fake.
3. The amount of people on the lists and videos is so massive that if they all were removed from offices and jobs, the government would be crippled disastrously.

I tend to believe the last one.

Here’s how I imagine it. You’re a young CIA agent, two years out of law school with huge student debt. You get invited to work security moonlighting for some bigwigs. Easy, you’re told. Fly to an island with a couple men (senators, news anchors, billionaires, etc.). No, your wife can’t come. There’s a lot girls on staff and one takes a liking to you. Says she’s 18. You go several times. You do things you hope your wife will never find out about. Addictions tend to escalate. Eventually, when the company wants to do something, they tell you it’s all on tape.

Do that for 50 years and you own the government. Remember, when the Biden laptop hit just before the Oct 2020 election debate, 51 intelligence officials signed a letter stating they believed it was Russian disinformation. It takes a lot of power to make that happen as fast as it did.

Trump, in my recollection, talked consistently about the need to release them. But now, not so much. He’s casting doubt on their authenticity. Why would he do those? Possibilities:

You missed one of the possibilities. 4. There never actually was a list of clients.

Claiming that a list existed made for a great accusation against powerful Democrats who must be withholding the list. Many people making that accusation honestly believed that the list existed and if Trump were elected, the list would be released. Some of those people get into a position to release the list and then found out that it didn't exist. What options did they have then? They could either keep insisting the list existed but for some reason couldn't release it or they could admit it didn't exist. Either way, the Democrats can now use the accusation of "the list" against Trump, and they would have no motivation to help prove that the list doesn't exist. How does one prove the non-existence of something anyway?

I wish I could argue with you on that, Dan. I especially appreciate the last comment, and I'd add "it takes a lot of power to get 51 intelligence officials to sign onto a nonsense claim without anyone calling foul on it." The groupthink is powerful.

And as a libertarian by tendency, my response to "we might cripple the government if every Epstein pervert were removed" is "bring it on." Having attempted (and failed) to gain entry to the service academies, one thing that especially galls me is seeing service academy graduates ignoring the honor code; "We will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those among us who do." Let's just say that a lot of people need a refresher.