Why is Trump Lying about Who Investigated Epstein?

Why is Trump lying about who investigated Epstein?

In his 400-word unhinged tirade posted on Truth Social late Saturday afternoon, Trump praised Attorney General Pam Bondi for doing a “FANTASTIC JOB!” reminded MAGA they are all on one team, and expressed his displeasure with his “boys” and “gals” “going after” Bondi. “I don’t like what’s happening,” he said.

Trump went on to praise his own administration and say, “selfish people are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein. For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again. Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration, who conned the World with the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, 51 “Intelligence” Agents, “THE LAPTOP FROM HELL,” and more? They created the Epstein Files, just like they created the FAKE Hillary Clinton/Christopher Steele Dossier that they used on me, and now my so-called “friends” are playing right into their hands.”

Trump closed his frantic post with, “One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it’s the “HOTTEST” Country anywhere in the World. Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

First, though not relevant to the point of my post, it should be noted that the Russia investigation was NOT a hoax. It was determined definitively that Russia did in fact hack into the Democratic National Committee’s email servers and release stolen emails via WikiLeaks. This was done after Trump publicly called on Russia to hack into Hillary’s email servers. And it was done with Trump confidant Roger Stone having prior knowledge that the stolen emails were about to be leaked. The 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee Report found that Stone knew about WikiLeaks’ planned releases in advance and lied to Congress to cover up the extent of his knowledge. Russia’s interference in the 2016 election was also detailed in the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment and the 2019 Mueller Report.

Additionally, GDP growth is down compared to a year ago (the economy is shrinking) and inflation is up compared to a year ago — Trump’s premise that the country was dead a year ago and is now “hot” is simply wrong.

Those are just background lies easily proven wrong.

More perplexing is why is Trump lying about who investigated Jeffrey Epstein?

Trump says the Epstein investigation files were prepared by President Obama, Hillary Clinton, FBI Director James Comey, and CIA Director John Brennan.

Epstein was first investigated in March 2005 when a 14-year-old girl’s family reported that Epstein had molested her at his Palm Beach mansion. This prompted a 13-month undercover investigation by the Palm Beach Police Department which found over 30 underage girls had been brought to Epstein’s home. In July 2006 Epstein was arrested on state charges (felony solicitation of prostitution).

Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter also referred the case to the FBI for federal prosecution. A federal investigation — “Operation Leap Year” — was opened. A 53-page federal indictment followed.

This was in 2006. George Bush was president, not Barack Obama.

In 2005, Bush had appointed Alexander Acosta, a Republican, to be the U.S. Attorney (federal prosecutor) for the Southern District of Florida.

In 2007 and 2008 (Bush was still president) Acosta worked out the now infamous sweetheart deal that allowed Epstein to plead guilty to two Florida state charges — soliciting a minor for prostitution and procuring a person under 18 — and face no federal charges whatsoever. The deal granted immunity to all co-conspirators (even those unnamed) and stipulated that it be kept secret from all victims, in violation of the federal Crime Victim’s Rights Act. In exchange for his plea, Epstein would serve 13 months, in the county jail (not a state prison), and be allowed to roam free, outside the jail, 12 hours a day, six days a week, on “work release.”

Acosta represented the government in the deal.

On the other side was one of the most high-profile well-connected legal teams ever assembled:

Alan Dershowitz (Harvard law professor and appellate specialist; helped negotiate legal strategy; later accused (and denied) involvement in alleged misconduct himself; currently saying, “hand to God, I know the names of people whose files are being suppressed in order to protect them, and that's wrong”);

Roy Black (Famed Miami criminal defense attorney (also defended William Kennedy Smith); one of Epstein’s primary trial lawyers);

Kenneth Starr (Former independent counsel during the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal; joined Epstein’s team as a legal adviser);

Jay Lefkowitz (Partner at Kirkland & Ellis and former White House adviser; involved in plea negotiations);

Gerald Lefcourt (Noted criminal defense lawyer; also involved in high-profile civil rights and defense work);

Martin Weinberg (Boston-based criminal defense attorney; known for federal white-collar cases); and,

Jack Goldberger (West Palm Beach-based lawyer; directly involved in negotiating Epstein’s plea deal with state prosecutors).

President Obama was inaugurated January 20, 2009.

Over the next ten years, there were no criminal investigations into Epstein.

Public interest flared up again in 2014 when Virginia Giuffre claimed she had been forced by Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew and Alan Dershowitz.

Civil suits were filed and investigative reporting was done, but there were no criminal investigations of Epstein the entire time President Obama was in office.

The renewed interest in the criminal charges against Epstein came about solely due to Trump’s actions.

Trump was elected in 2016 and took office on January 20, 2017. In February of 2017, Trump appointed Alexander Acosta — the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida who had approved the sweetheart deal for Epstein in 2008 — to be his Secretary of Labor.

Acosta’s sweetheart deal with Epstein came to public light during his 2017 senate confirmation hearings.

In November of 2018, the buzz in Washington was that Acosta was being considered for the position of Trump’s Attorney General, to replace Jeff Sessions. This led to the Miami Herald publishing an investigative article detailing Acosta's role in the Epstein case.

The Miami Herald reported on an email from Epstein's attorney — Jay Lefkowitz of Kirkland & Ellis — to Acosta after they had met for breakfast in West Palm Beach: “Thank you for the commitment you made to me during our Oct. 12 meeting. You ... assured me that your office would not ... contact any of the identified individuals, potential witnesses or potential civil claimants and the respective counsel in this matter.”

A lawsuit followed and on February 21, 2019 US District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra ruled that Alexander Acosta had violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act when he reached a deal with Epstein — which stopped federal prosecution in exchange for him pleading guilty to state charges — without telling the victims.

This meant Epstein was now wide open to be re-investigated for the federal crimes that had been originally alleged against him back in 2006.

This was in 2019.

Barack Obama was not president; Trump was.

The re-investigation of Epstein’s crimes was handled by the Trump administration, not the Obama administration.

With Sessions gone and Acosta no longer under consideration, William “Bill” Barr had been sworn in as the new Attorney General on February 14, 2019.

That was one week before the federal judge ruled that the federal charges against Epstein from back in 2006 had to be re-opened.

Barr had recused himself from taking part in the federal government’s position on the issue of whether the old sweetheart deal from 2008 should be declared a violation of the victims’ rights for being kept secret — Barr had previously worked at Kirkland & Ellis which had represented Epstein in the deal through attorney Jay Lefkowitz…. the attorney who sent the email to Acosta thanking him for agreeing to violate the victims’ rights by keeping the deal secret.

But Barr was poised to go forward with prosecuting Epstein for the federal crimes that were alleged to have taken place in the early 2000s.

The FBI, under the authority of Attorney General Barr and through the auspices of the Southern District of New York, began re-investigating Epstein.

On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested by the FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force on sex trafficking charges stemming from activities alleged to have occurred in 2002–2005.

On August 10, 2019, Epstein was found dead in his jail cell.

Let’s look again at Trump’s lie:

“Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration?”

Epstein was originally investigated in 2005 and 2006 when Bush was president. His sweetheart deal was worked out in 2007 and 2008 while Bush was president. He was re-investigated in 2019 when Trump was president. He was re-arrested in 2019 when Trump was president. He died in 2019 when Trump was president.

President Obama was not in any way whatsoever associated with the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

Hillary Clinton was not in any way whatsoever associated with the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

James Comey was not in any way whatsoever associated with the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein — he first became FBI Director in 2013 (long after the 2006 investigation) and Trump fired him in 2017 (long before Epstein was re-investigated in 2019)… Trump’s Christopher Wray was the FBI Director when Epstein was re-investigated in 2019.

Exact same for CIA Director John Brennan — he served from 2013 to 2017 — he had nothing whatsoever to do with the original 2006 Epstein investigation or the 2019 re-investigation.

Why is Trump lying about this?

Why is he saying the investigative files on Epstein were compiled by Obama and Hillary and Comey and Brennan when that is such an obvious bald-faced lie?

Epstein was originally investigated by the Bush FBI/justice department. He was re-investigated by Trump’s own FBI (Christopher Wray) and Trump’s own Attorney General (Bill Barr).

Why does Trump want so much to discredit the Epstein files for his base by claiming they were compiled by his political enemies?

Could it be because Trump knows his own name is in the files?

Trump’s former confidant, Elon Musk — who had unprecedented access to all the secrets of every department in the US government — says Trump’s name is in the Epstein files.

After all, Trump and Epstein were best friends for 17 years, from around 1987 to 2004. Trump bought Mar-a-Lago in 1985. Epstein bought a mansion a mile away in 1990. In 2002 Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” and said they had known each other for 15 years. Their real estate “falling-out” didn’t happen until 2004 — they were close friends before that. The crimes for which Epstein was arrested by the FBI in July 2019 were allegedly committed from 2002 to 2005, a four-year period that overlaps three of the years that Epstein and Trump were best friends.

If Trump is not in the Epstein files, there is no reason whatsoever for him to keep the files secret.