Ellie Leonard is a journalist who posts on Substack, where her blog is called “The Panicked, Unpaid Writer.”
She took the trouble to document the long relationship between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. They were not just acquaintances. They were close friends. For years.
This is extremely awkward for MAGA World, because one of their obsessions was the failure of the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. Those files, they assumed, would contain the long list of names of powerful men who participated in Epstein’s orgies with underage girls. It would also contain the flight logs of Epstein’s private airplane(s), including the names of everyone who visited Epstein’s private island, officially named Little James Island, but unofficially called “Pedo Island.” The files might also contain the videos of prominent men taking advantage of young girls, which is a felony. Epstein had video cameras in all of his residences.
Trump would like everyone to stop talking about Epstein. On national television, he denounced the MAGA followers who want to see the Epstein files. He denounced them as “stupid” and “weaklings,” and he said he didn’t want their support anymore.
Fact is, no matter what’s in the Epstein files (assuming they have not been incinerated) won’t hurt Trump. He may lose some rabid fans. He will still be president until the election of 2028.
But the Epstein story won’t go away. MAGA was encouraged to believe that Democrats were hiding them and Trump would release them. Trump now says that the files shouldn’t be released because innocent people might be implicated. Or he says the files don’t exist. Or he says that the files were created by Obama, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, and Biden.
House Democrats offered a resolution demanding the release of the Epstein files. Republicans voted the resolution down, putting them into the awkward position of defending Attorney General Pam Bondi’s claim that the files don’t exist. but if they do exist, they should not be released.
Bondi made this claim after saying on national television that the Epstein list of clients was “on her desk.” Maybe she confused her grocery shopping list with Epstein’s list of clients.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This issue probably would have died down at some point but Trump, and company, continue to lie and state conflicting information – that is why it will not go away and Trump himself said he would release the files while he was running! Trump has continued to fan this issue by his various conflicting statements! Release the documents and be done with it already!
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You are right. Trump kept this issue alive by claiming there was a conspiracy to suppress it.
That’s funny when you realize that Trump and Epstein were very close friends for years.
The “file” is not just a list of names. There is already a list online called Jeffrey Epstein’s Black Book. But not everyone in his black book was a client of his services.
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Why Aren’t Democrats Weaponizing Epstein Against Trump?
1. Because They’re in It Too. Bill Clinton flew on the Lolita Express at least 26 times. He ditched Secret Service on some of those trips. Numerous survivors place Clinton at Epstein properties. If they go scorched earth on Trump, Clinton goes down too. And with him, the whole rotten scaffolding of the Democratic elite.
2. Epstein Was a Bipartisan Operation This wasn’t a Democrat or Republican thing—it was an elite predator system thing. Ehud Barak (former Israeli PM) Prince Andrew (British royalty) Wexner (L Brands, major donor) Alan Dershowitz (Trump & Clinton lawyer) Academics, scientists, billionaires… Attacking Trump means exposing the entire web, and neither side wants that.
3. The Intelligence Angle Makes Everyone Nervous If Epstein was indeed a Mossad-CIA sexual blackmail operation, as many believe (including Nick Bryant), then exposing it would implicate intelligence agencies, foreign governments, and media outlets. That’s radioactive. Even politicians with nothing to hide would be terrified of being suicided, silenced, or smeared.
4. They Fear Opening the Wrong Box The Epstein scandal is not predictable. It’s not like a tax return, a tweet, or a gaffe. It’s a Pandora’s Box of: Human trafficking Pedophilia Foreign espionage Compromised judges, tech lords, and presidents Once opened, no one controls where the fire goes.
5. Media Complicity = Muzzling Most of the mainstream media outlets are: Owned by the same few conglomerates Deeply embedded in the same elite donor networks Protective of Clinton, Gates, and others involved So even the appearance of Epstein being used against Trump would force a real investigation—and that would unravel the whole simulation.
6. Controlled Opposition Is the Game The Democrats don’t want to destroy Trump. They want to perform resistance to keep their base loyal, while quietly preserving the bipartisan parasitic system. Trump is perfect as a foil—a villain they can hate publicly, while ignoring the monsters under their own bed.
Bottom Line If the Democrats were truly about justice: They’d have exposed Trump’s ties, Clinton’s flights, and Epstein’s full operation years ago. Instead, they tiptoe, deflect, or pretend it’s old news. That’s not incompetence. That’s collusion by silence.
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But Democrats are weaponizing the Epstein files. They offered a resolution to open them up, to release them all. Their resolution was voted down by Republicans. Democratic leaders are on TV calling for the files’ release. I’m not sure what else they can do. Everyone knows that Clinton was inside Epstein’s network. That’s old news.
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Most Democrats would hand over Bill Clinton’s head on a platter if it would change the balance of power. But no Republican would ever damage the least orange hair on their fearless leader. This means that MAGA has the upper hand.
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Democrats are weaponizing Epstein against Trump. Did you miss this sentence?
“House Democrats offered a resolution demanding the release of the Epstein files. Republicans voted the resolution down, putting them into the awkward position of defending Attorney General Pam Bondi’s claim that the files don’t exist. but if they do exist, they should not be released.”
According to Trump, “the files were created by Obama, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, and Biden.” Um, sure.
The question is why hasn’t the Putin-loving left weaponized Epstein against BOTH parties? Why did they remain silent.
Why did the Putin-loving left ignore Epstein, except to use it to bash Democrats when it suddenly looked like Putin’s servant Trump was going to get in trouble by covering up for Epstein?
Why try to make this about Dems when it’s obvious the cover up is by Republicans and the Putin-loving left who only cares about pedophiles if they are Dems.
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I was with you until Item 6.
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That’s the truest one. Until you see that, you’ll never understand politics in this country.
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What you have to understand is that Democrats and Republicans are owned by most of the same people. Sure, some billionaires and corporations donate mostly or only to one or the other, but most hedge their bets and donate roughly equally to both. And it’s those donors who make the decisions. Neither party will do anything to upset them and lose their gravy train.
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This story references without explaining it Epstein’s little black telephone book, which contained the names and numbers of many prominent people. That’s unfortunate. However, it is indeed the case that Gislaine Maxwell attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding:
Where is Chelsea Clinton now and who is her husband? As it’s revealed Jeffrey Epstein’s ex Ghislaine Maxwell was at her 2010 wedding, here’s what Bill and Hillary Clinton’s daughter has been up to | South China Morning Post
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Epstein’s telephone book:
All Names – Epstein’s Black Book
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It is important to recognize that many people in this contact list were not part of Epstein’s disgusting operation. One should avoid assigning guilt by association.
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