WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:03.200 What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the 2 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:06.559 Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to pick up 3 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:09.320 where we left off with the New York Times article 4 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:13.919 that was authored by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. On 5 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:17.120 July seventh, the Department of Justice in the FBI released 6 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.239 a memo. It was brief, an unsigned, one and a 7 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:23.600 half page statement explaining that after an exhaustive search of 8 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:27.320 its database, hard drives, and network drives, as well as 9 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:31.559 physical searches a squad areas, lock cabinets, desks, closets, and 10 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:35.079 other areas where responsive material may have been stored, and 11 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:38.679 a corresponding review of more than three hundred gigabytes of evidence, 12 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:41.920 the department concluded that there was no evidence Epstein had 13 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:46.359 maintained a client list. The memo also reaffirmed the official 14 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:50.560 finding that Epstein's death in twenty nineteen had been a suicide. 15 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:53.640 The memo was accompanied by the release of video footage 16 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:57.679 from the federal jail in Manhattan where Epstein died, footage 17 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:02.039 that official said supported the conclusion of suicide, and with that, 18 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:05.959 the memo indicated the Trump administration would not be releasing 19 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.159 further information regarding the Epstein case, and no further investigation 20 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:15.280 of uncharged third parties was warranted. Imagine, after all that hubbub, 21 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:18.640 after all the carrying on, after telling us this time 22 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:21.719 is going to be different, to send out that memo 23 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:24.840 and just spit in everybody's face. Less than five months 24 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:27.799 after Bondi had referred to a secret client list of 25 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:31.799 high profile predators, the case was closed, or so it seemed. 26 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:35.799 If the administration expected that the memo would be the 27 00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:38.799 last word on the Epstein case and that the president's 28 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:42.200 most ardent supporters would accept the purported conclusions of the 29 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:46.480 Department of Justice simply because the Department and its investigative 30 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:50.319 agencies were now controlled by Donald Trump, they were sorely mistaken. 31 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:54.159 The memo was an earthquake, and it was received by 32 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:57.400 a part of the magabase as an outright betrayal. It 33 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:02.959 amounted to an abrupt disavowal of the sinister conspiracy theories 34 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:06.120 that some of Trump's closest confidants had hyped during the 35 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:09.599 Biden presidency and that they had promised to expose once 36 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:13.960 Trump returned to power. The release of the surveillance video, 37 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:17.280 which Bongino and Patel had intended as a gesture of 38 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:21.280 transparency further fueled the fire. The Department of Justice ended 39 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:25.240 up releasing roughly eleven hours of prison video intended to 40 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:28.599 show that nothing the farius occurred, but the footage was 41 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:32.120 missing a minute, a visible timestamp jump from eleven fifty 42 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:36.560 eight fifty eight pm to midnight. Bondi initially attributed this 43 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.840 to a nightly system reset, and the footage was later 44 00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:44.680 restored and released to many a Trump's followers. However, this 45 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:47.319 was yet more evidence of a cover up. White House 46 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:50.639 officials complained privately that they hadn't been told about the 47 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:54.439 gap before the release. Social media lit up will blame 48 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:57.840 not just for Bondi, but for Patel and Bongino two. 49 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:00.840 None of the three had ever experiencest anger at this 50 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:05.759 volume from Trump's conservative base. It was disorienting, especially for 51 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:10.039 Patel and Bongino, whose power and influence had been built online. 52 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:12.719 And you know, it was a shock for them. Haven't 53 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:16.159 everybody come after them like that? That must not have 54 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.599 been very much fun. But guess what they should have done? 55 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:22.599 The right thing. If you say you're going to release something, 56 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:25.360 release it, and if not, you better have a good 57 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:30.560 explanation as to why and unfortunately for them, no explanation came. 58 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:37.879 The movement that had treated them as heroes was suddenly 59 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:40.719 turning on them. The two men were now tightly connected 60 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.919 to a memo that stated in black and white that 61 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:47.240 while information in the government's possession showed ample evidence of 62 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:51.120 Epstein's own wrongdoing, there's no evidence of a wider conspiracy. 63 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:54.800 The day the memo was released, Bongino showed up to 64 00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:58.000 a daily Justice Department meeting with the FBI staff and 65 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:01.840 the Attorney General. He was in a volcanic mood. As 66 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:04.280 soon as he entered the room. He erupted at Bondi, 67 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:07.039 shouting at her, you fucked this thing up from the start, 68 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:10.599 Bongino yelled, the way you've been talking about this, that dumb, 69 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:14.840 fucking charad with the Epstein files. They're on my desk. Nonsense, 70 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:18.120 all the promises to folks out there. Look, he's not 71 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:24.000 wrong about that, and when somebody's right, they're right. Not 72 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:26.600 exactly what I would call the biggest fan of Dan Bongino, 73 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:30.839 but he's not wrong here, and he had every reason 74 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:33.879 to be fired up. This dude basically staked his career 75 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:39.399 on this bullshit ptelling. Bongino both subsequently told the White 76 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:43.639 House official that Bondi needed to resign. Two days later, 77 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:46.120 on July ninth, the two men were summoned to a 78 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:50.759 meeting with Wiles and Bondie in the Situation Room. They 79 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:53.319 were the last to enter the small wood paneled room, 80 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:58.000 seated around the table where Bondy, Wiles, Blanche, and Taylor Budowitch, 81 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:02.120 one of Wiles's deputies. The moment Bongino sat down, Wiles 82 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.480 told him that she had been informed that he leaked 83 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:08.040 a sensitive story about Epstein and Trump to ABC News. 84 00:05:08.439 --> 00:05:10.839 I'll tell you what, Bongino replied, I'll give you one 85 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:14.319 hundred thousand dollars cash right now. I'm not kidding. Walk 86 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:17.160 out to West exec, put that reporter on speaker and 87 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:19.240 get him to admit that I leaked it one hundred 88 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:22.759 thousand dollars. Wiles snap back, well, we got ourselves into this, 89 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:25.839 Bongino cut her off. No, no, no, no, we didn't 90 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:28.920 get ourselves into anything. I warned you guys about this 91 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:32.639 the whole time, and you ignored me, and exactly what 92 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:35.279 I said was going to happen happened. And now you're 93 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:37.759 pretending I was in on this. I was never in 94 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:39.800 on this. It's always nice to see the rats try 95 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:43.560 and flee the sinking shit. Huh. Bongino's aggressive response to 96 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:47.240 Wiles startled the others. She was the White House chief 97 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:51.120 of Staff, essentially a stand in for the president. Wiles 98 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:54.399 put Bongino on the spot going forward. She said, we're 99 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:56.879 all in. We're all going to agree to move forward. 100 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:00.560 Are you in or not? No, I'm not, Bonge said, 101 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:03.160 this is not my plan. I'm not part of this 102 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:06.279 going forward. Forget it. I'm out of here. He stormed 103 00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:09.519 out of the situation room and on to West Executive Avenue, 104 00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:12.480 where he climbed into the back of Attel's armored suv 105 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:16.680 and directed the driver to take him to FBI headquarters. 106 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:19.720 Some of Bongino's close friends hoped that he would resign 107 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:22.720 right then and there, an act of protest that would 108 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:26.839 have made him a Maga martyr and only increased his following. Look, 109 00:06:26.839 --> 00:06:28.240 I would have had a lot less to say if 110 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:30.319 he did that. At least he would have shown some 111 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:34.560 integrity and some backbone. But no, he stuck around and 112 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:39.079 ran cover, but the White House advisors intervened, urging him 113 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.639 to stay. If he quit, over Epstein and went public 114 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:45.959 it could severely damage the president. Bongino told associates he 115 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.920 would remain for Trump's sake and keep pushing for more 116 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:55.160 Epstein information to be released, but privately he seethed. In 117 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:58.480 conversations with confidants, he lamented what the job had cost 118 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:02.959 him millions of dollars and podcast revenue, family time, his audience. 119 00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:06.120 He was getting torn apart over a strategy he had 120 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:10.000 opposed from the start. The relationships at the top of 121 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:14.040 the Justice Department were by now beyond dysfunctional. In another 122 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:17.240 July meeting in Will's office, Bongino and Patel told the 123 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:20.519 chief of staff they suspected that Bondi had leaked negative 124 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:25.040 stories about them. Yo, this is a shit show. No 125 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:28.560 wonder everything was so screwed up, folks, What an absolute 126 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:34.600 clown show. Blondie fucked this whole thing up, Bongino later 127 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:39.000 told a confidant, echoing Lomer's derisive nickname for the Attorney General. 128 00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:41.639 She was the one on TV saying over and over 129 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:44.720 they had all this stuff. There was never anything. We 130 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:47.560 were always clear about that, but now everyone thinks we 131 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:51.519 did something wrong, and I gave up everything. Bongino complained 132 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:54.680 that he'd given up his high rated show and millions 133 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:58.040 of dollars, and now it's all disappeared because people think 134 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:02.199 we screwed something up with Epstein. You did, You're a 135 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:07.639 coward and a chump. Dan Bongino, A real man would 136 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:10.399 have been a whistleblower, A real man would have stood up. 137 00:08:12.519 --> 00:08:17.040 Bongino paused, this is going to be President Trump's Iran contra. 138 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:21.439 While he's not wrong about that, it sure is. On 139 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:24.720 July twelfth, the President took the Truth social to defend 140 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:27.759 Bondi against criticism, to urge his boys and gals to 141 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:31.480 stop wasting time and energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that 142 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.399 nobody cares about. And that's hilarious considering that Trump himself 143 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.919 and the administration couldn't shut up about Epstein for so long. 144 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.279 Trump told aides he was very unhappy with some of 145 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:50.000 his most influential supporters, including Charlie Kirk, Tucker Carlson, and 146 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:53.600 Megan Kelly, all of whom were publicly urging the administration 147 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:56.720 to come clean. Kirk had held the Turning Point USA 148 00:08:56.759 --> 00:09:01.159 event the previous day that turned into an Epstein grievance fest, 149 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:05.399 with one speaker after another bashing Bondie over the handling 150 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.799 of the situation. Trump had called Kirk and scolded him. 151 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:13.200 Trump is so thin skinned that he's willing to go 152 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:16.879 after his most ardent supporters, even if they just step 153 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:19.679 out of line once. If they don't agree with everything, 154 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:22.600 then you're a trader. I just can't get down with 155 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:27.720 the whole absolutism. Sometimes I'll agree, sometimes I won't. And 156 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.039 if that's a problem, well I don't give a shit. 157 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:34.360 It's not my problem, it's yours. Nobody in Trump's orbit 158 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:36.240 had a better feel for the younger part of the 159 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:39.360 MAGA base than Kirk, who saw that the Epstein cover up, 160 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.080 as it was now viewed, was capturing attention to an 161 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:47.600 alarming extent. Donald Trump Junior and JD. Vance, both of 162 00:09:47.639 --> 00:09:51.240 whom spent considerable time on X, were tapped into the 163 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:55.159 same younger and hyper online portion of the base, were 164 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.279 also worried. They urged the White House to change course 165 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:01.240 and force the Justice Department to release more of the files. 166 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.399 So basically, we had a MAGA civil war, and like usual, 167 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:09.799 the Trump faction won. Vance made it clear to colleagues 168 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:11.919 that he feared losing some of the so called low 169 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:15.600 propensity voters, the young men who were not traditional Republicans 170 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.440 but who had voted for the Trump Vance ticket in 171 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:22.320 twenty twenty four. Bingo, almost to a person, those people 172 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:25.240 are out. They're not voting for Trump. They're not going 173 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:28.799 to vote for this bullshit. So either they're sitting out 174 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:31.840 the midterms or they're going to vote against Trump's candidates. 175 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:36.000 And I've heard that from numerous people. This was the 176 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:39.480 audience that tuned into the manisphere of podcasters like Joe Rogan, 177 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:42.759 and it was worrisome that the podcast hosts themselves were 178 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:46.200 now rebelling. But there was one major obstacle in the 179 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:50.480 path of a solution. The President himself still had no 180 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:54.919 interest in transparency. He wanted the whole Epstein issue buried, 181 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:58.159 and he was snapping at anyone who mentioned it. His 182 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:02.000 staff largely avoided the subject their conversations with them, forced 183 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.759 to worry among themselves. Finally, on July sixteenth, in an 184 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.440 exasperated truth social post, seemingly desperate to make the case 185 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:12.600 in a language that might resonate with his base, Trump 186 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:16.879 somewhat nonsensically called the Epstein case a hoax by Democrats, 187 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.960 and then proceeded to heap abuse on members of his 188 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.720 party and his base, disavowing their support, calling them past 189 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:27.919 supporters and weaklings who had bought into this bullshit hook 190 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.840 line and sinker, and look, the line was drawn at 191 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:34.240 that point. The line was drawn. And anybody that's still 192 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:36.840 trying to place Trump as some kind of hero here 193 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:41.399 is crazy. Donald Trump is the one single biggest impediment 194 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:45.679 to transparency right now. And that's just the truth. Whether 195 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:47.279 you want to believe it or not, I don't care. 196 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.960 But if this man wanted this stuff to be out there, 197 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:53.320 it would be out there. As the President was trying 198 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:56.080 to redirect everyone away from the Epstein on social media, 199 00:11:56.440 --> 00:11:59.440 members of both parties began to push the other way. 200 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:03.879 Many Democrats embrace the growing Epstein scandal as a top 201 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:07.240 focus in their messaging and as a weapon against Trump. 202 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:11.440 That's a big problem too. All these same Democrats, or 203 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:13.720 a lot of them, they were nowhere to be found 204 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:18.080 in twenty twenty, twenty nineteen. Well, all of a sudden, 205 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:20.519 they feel like they can use it politically, so now 206 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:24.519 they care. So look, I'm not under any impression that 207 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:28.080 they're some kind of great crusaders. They're just a vehicle 208 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:30.279 that we're using to get to where we want to go. 209 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:36.120 Same thing with Massy right. They were joined by a 210 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:39.440 few Renegador Republicans, which added to the political pressure on 211 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:44.159 the president's team. Representative Thomas Massey, a Republican, and Rocana 212 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:48.360 a Democrat, filed HR forty four h five the Epstein 213 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:51.720 Files Transparency Act in the House, and although they did 214 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:53.799 not yet have the votes for the bill, it would 215 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:56.799 become the next battleground as the President dug in against 216 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:00.840 releasing information, which is hilarious considering they're the most transparent 217 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:03.960 administration of all time, you would think that it would 218 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:06.399 have to be a battle that Trump would be the 219 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:09.679 one saying, you know what, it's time for full transparency. 220 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:12.879 They were joined by a few renegad Republicans, which added 221 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:17.240 to the political pressure on the president's team. Representative Thomas Massey, 222 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:21.519 a Republican, and Rocanna a Democrat, filed HR forty four 223 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:25.279 oh five the Epstein File Transparency Act in the House, 224 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:27.879 and although they did not yet have the votes for 225 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:30.559 the bill, it would become the next battleground as the 226 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:34.960 President dug in against releasing information. Word reached the White 227 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:37.919 House in late July. Meanwhile, that a subpoena would soon 228 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.960 be coming from the House Oversight Committee, led by James Comer, 229 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:44.600 a Republican from Kentucky. It had been pushed by Committee 230 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:48.080 Democrats with the help of some Republicans, and it compelled 231 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:51.600 the release of files the Justice Department had on Epstein. 232 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.360 On the day that the Trump team learned about the 233 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:58.679 looming subpoena, another Epstein crisis meeting was convened in the 234 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:02.799 Situation Room to discuss the pressure coming from Congress. It 235 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:08.000 included most of the same people, Wiles and Vance, Blanche, Warrington, Patel, 236 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:12.799 Bondie Blair, Chung Buddha Witch, and Levitt. Blair told the 237 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:14.679 group that they would try to make sure that they 238 00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:17.559 were cooperating fully with the White House subpoena, but that 239 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:21.399 the priority was to release information that demonstrated Trump was 240 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:28.000 not involved in Epstein's crimes. That's the priority. Huh, disgusting folks. Look, 241 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:31.720 this is a damning article and if it's true, there 242 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:37.399 is no doubt that there's a cover up. Blanche gave 243 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.279 an assessment of the Epstein material that he personally reviewed 244 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:43.480 or been briefed on, including a volume of child pornography. 245 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:46.919 The conversation turned to how these files should be released 246 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:49.919 to the public. The idea already in the works was 247 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:53.279 to put all Epstein related material on a website. That way, 248 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:56.639 they could overwhelm the magosphere with far greater volume of 249 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:00.519 real information in the form of a huge database. That's 250 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:03.200 called flooding the zone, and it's what they do when 251 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:07.000 they're trying to confuse people. Put out a bunch of 252 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.679 shit and hope some of it sticks. The website had 253 00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:14.120 been easy to build, and they were looking at potentially 254 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:17.440 going live within a week. They had already accumulated a 255 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:20.399 mountain of material that Blanche had been scrolling through and 256 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:24.279 that it included piles of documents from both civil and criminal cases. 257 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:28.240 They planned to release it all. Blanche could then appear 258 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.879 on Rogan's podcast to promote the transparency from the White House. 259 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:35.200 But as it turned out, this searchable website would not 260 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:38.600 go live on their initial timetable, and the version of 261 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:41.600 the site they originally conceived would never be released to 262 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:44.200 the public. The whole last thing has been nothing but 263 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:46.759 a scam from the very beginning. They never had any 264 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:52.320 desire to tell the truth. Never By late summer, it 265 00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:55.039 was plainly apparent to the president's top aids that the 266 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:58.000 Epstein saga was not the same as the countless other 267 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:01.720 crisis they had weathered during their service to Trump. To 268 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:05.080 their great surprise and growing disquiet, Trump's old tricks of 269 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:09.120 deflection and denial weren't working. In late July, the Trump 270 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:11.960 team had discussed in their crisis meetings it was Blanche 271 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:15.600 who interviewed Maxwell over two days. She told them she 272 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:19.080 had witnessed no troubling behavior by Trump and didn't recall 273 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:21.480 him sending the birthday car drawn in the shape of 274 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:24.799 a nude woman. Soon after, she was quietly moved to 275 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:28.720 a minimum security federal prison in Texas, a transfer left 276 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:33.320 unexplained at first, which only deepened the public outrage. Blanche 277 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.919 sat nearly five months later that Maxwell had faced numerous 278 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:43.240 threats against her life. Lies all lies. So anybody who 279 00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:47.120 gets threatened gets moved, that's news to me, and I'm 280 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:50.039 sure that's news to everybody that's locked up. As the 281 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.879 calls for transparency grew louder, the top ranks of the 282 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:56.720 Trump administration spent even more time in the bunker. By now, 283 00:16:56.759 --> 00:17:00.240 the situation room itself had become inseparable from the crisis 284 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:03.840 up guarded space, where Trump's inner circle worked to steer 285 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:06.880 the president around the scandal that would soon tank or 286 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:12.039 consume careers at the highest levels of business, science, and politics. Yeah, 287 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:15.880 only about ten years too late, but I guess welcome 288 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:19.440 to the party. On August thirteenth, Trump's team at again 289 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.400 in the secure complex at six pm for two hours 290 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:30.400 to refine the Epstein defense strategy. Again. The group included Wiles, Bondie, Blanche, Patel, Blair, Budowitch, Chung, 291 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:34.680 and Levitt. Vance phoned in from Britain. The Vice President 292 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.519 once again pushed to release as much of the Epstein 293 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:40.920 files as possible, and with an eye on the public messaging, 294 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:44.079 he proposed that he should be the one to appear 295 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:48.480 on Rogan's influential podcast. Vance had just gotten off the 296 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:50.680 phone with Rogan, and he later told the others that 297 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:53.640 Rogan said he wouldn't have Blanch on his show, but 298 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.759 he'd take Vance. Vance argued that if he were the 299 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:59.960 one to appear on Rogan's show, then only a part 300 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:02.839 of the conversation would be about Epstein. The rest of 301 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:05.359 the interview, he told the group, could be about the 302 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:08.519 president's recently pass legislation and what it would do for 303 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:12.680 working families. But the larger conversation before them was how 304 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.720 to handle the crisis and the public relations risk for 305 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:20.000 the administration. The challenge would be any embarrassing or damaging 306 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:24.680 allegations about the president, even if they were unsubstantiated. If 307 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.720 everything was publicly available on the website they had planned, 308 00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:32.240 it could include all kinds of potentially humiliating material. Well, 309 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:35.880 here's an idea. Don't hang out with Jeffrey Epstein and 310 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:39.160 there won't be humiliating material. Thanks for coming to my 311 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:43.000 ted talk. Suddenly, one of the officials in the situation 312 00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:47.079 room raised the subject of a disturbing but uncorroborated accusation 313 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:50.519 against Trump that had come to light in unsealed filings 314 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:54.960 from a twenty fifteen defamation case brought by Virginia Roberts 315 00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:58.559 against Maxwell, which had been settled two years later. The 316 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:02.440 second hand accusation alleging a specific type of sexual abuse 317 00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:05.519 was a perfect example of something that would show up 318 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:08.200 on the public website and put the spotlight on Trump, 319 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:11.880 whether it was true or not. Roberts, who had met 320 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.680 Epstein when she was a teenage SPA attendant at Trump's 321 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:17.240 club mar A Lago and Palm Beach became one of 322 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:21.640 the sex offenders most outspoken victims. Roberts stated in late 323 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:25.039 twenty sixteen that, to her knowledge, Trump had done nothing improper. 324 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:29.160 She died by suicide, allegedly in April of twenty twenty five, 325 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:32.799 three months after Trump returned to power. The old Roberts 326 00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:35.720 case file included emails sent to a journalist by another 327 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:40.119 Epstein victim, Sarah Ransom, who later sued Epstein and Maxwell. 328 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:44.599 Epstein had also settled that case. In the emails, Ransom 329 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:47.240 claimed that she knew a girl in Epstein's sex trafficking 330 00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:50.480 ring named Jen, who said she had sex with Trump. 331 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:54.000 Ransom also claimed that Jen had told her that Trump 332 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:57.039 had a predilection for nipples and that he had aggressively 333 00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:59.880 flicked and sucked hers. Ransom wrote that she had s 334 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:03.079 evidence when she shared a bathroom with Jen. They looked 335 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:06.119 incredibly painful, and they were red and swollen, and I 336 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:12.039 remember wincing when looking at them. Ransom's credibility was not uncomplicated. 337 00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:15.319 She had made another claim that she possessed video footage 338 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:17.920 of prominent men having sex with the young girls in 339 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:22.079 Epstein's entourage. She later attracted the claims, saying she feared 340 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:25.720 for herself and her family if she proceeded. But after 341 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:28.680 a federal judge ordered the unsealing of some of Robert's 342 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:31.680 case files in twenty twenty three, the document that connected 343 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:35.079 Trump to the claim about abused nipples was among the 344 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:39.240 material that came out. It was an unconfirmed allegation and 345 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:42.440 had not been made publicly, but the disclosure led to 346 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:45.559 some articles that were quickly lost in the swirl of 347 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:49.680 election year news. Some of Trump's advisors in the situation 348 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:53.359 room had never heard of the nipple claim, those who had, 349 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:56.279 and the ones who had were only passingly familiar with it. 350 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.920 Many in the room thought this was just discredited nonsense. 351 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:03.480 But it might not matter. Though. Ransom emails could get 352 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:06.279 new attention if they were included in a public facing 353 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:09.960 and searchable Epstein library that carried the branding of the 354 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:14.359 Justice Department. An administration official had already searched for Trump 355 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:18.039 related material on the still private test version of the website, 356 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:20.720 and the nipple material was among the first items to 357 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:24.079 show up. None of the credibility issues would come into 358 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:28.920 consideration if a government endorsed database gave Ransom's claims about Trump, 359 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:32.279 a stamp a validity. This is out there, One of 360 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:35.119 the officials told the group in the situation room, They're 361 00:21:35.160 --> 00:21:37.000 going to make a huge scene of this, even though 362 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:39.839 it's not true and everybody knows it. Blanche argued that 363 00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:43.680 in context, the Ransom document and Ransom's disavowal of some 364 00:21:43.720 --> 00:21:46.480 of her other claims would make clear why the allegations 365 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:50.680 related to Trump had never been pursued for a prosecution. Besides, 366 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:54.319 these allegations were already available online because of what had 367 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:56.680 been unsealed, so there was no reason to leave them 368 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:00.079 off the Justice Department's website. The Vice President said that 369 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:02.920 he thought the President would be okay with releasing the 370 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:06.400 nipple related documents, arguing that Trump had been accused of worse. 371 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:09.160 I think we should put it out, he said. It 372 00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:11.480 would cause people to say, we're going further then we 373 00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:14.759 need to. Wiles quickly responded that the President would not, 374 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:17.440 in fact be okay with it. It was a point 375 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:21.319 no one wanted to continue debating. One official would later 376 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:24.599 describe it as surreal experience to be discussing nipples in 377 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:27.960 the White House situation room. Yeah, I would say so. 378 00:22:28.039 --> 00:22:32.160 Talk about embarrassing as if we have nothing else going 379 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:35.359 on in the world, in the country, but these people 380 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:40.759 are busy with their cover up. This was, in miniature 381 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.720 the entire problem the White House had with the Epstein files. 382 00:22:44.119 --> 00:22:48.960 Pyle's accusations were impossible to disprove and equally impossible to 383 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:52.000 make go away. Every door they opened led to another room, 384 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:55.160 and in every room there were more claims for more women. 385 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:58.000 For a few weeks, they thought that they had found 386 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.000 a way out. The subpoena from Homer's committee had specifically 387 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:06.119 requested Justice Department documents, communications with the White House, and 388 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:10.559 material from the Epstein and Maxwell criminal case, non material 389 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:14.440 from civil litigation such as Loransom emails. They could comply 390 00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:17.720 with the letter of subpoena, post the Justice Department material 391 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.599 to a stripped down version of the planned website and 392 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:24.880 leave the rest aside. Civil cases were separate matters outside 393 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:27.920 of the remit of the Justice Department, and the subpoena 394 00:23:27.960 --> 00:23:31.640 allowed for another escape patch. The Justice Department could withhold 395 00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:34.319 certain documents as long as it explained to the House 396 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:37.519 lawmakers what they were and why they were held back, 397 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:43.359 but that strategy collapsed quickly. More Republican lawmakers would press 398 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:47.079 for additional disclosures, including former Trump allies like Green and 399 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:50.240 Lauren Bobert, and the Trump administration was slow to comply 400 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:54.000 with even the initial limited set of documents required by 401 00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:58.240