Rick Thomas

Lewisburg

There’s a glaring fact that few will say out loud: President Donald Trump was a close friend of Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein and Trump were well-known playboys, with photos and videos showing them partying together in Palm Beach. Trump once told New York Magazine, “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Trump has boasted of his sexual “prowess” and was once caught on tape saying that if you’re rich you can “grab them by the (sic) — you can do anything.” A jury found him liable for sexual abuse for forcibly inserting his fingers into a woman’s genitals without her consent in a department store. More than 25 other women have accused Trump of sexual assault, including one who was 13 years old when the alleged incidents occurred.

Despite his personal ties to Epstein, Trump tried to capitalize on the Epstein scandal. During the 2024 campaign, he fired up supporters claiming that if elected he would release the Epstein files, which would implicate powerful men around the world, especially Democrats.

Last week the Department of Justice released a memo revealing that there are over “10,000 downloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography,” with more than 1,000 victims. However, the memo also said that it would not make the Epstein files public. When Trump supporters screamed, the administration said it would request the release of some grand jury transcripts — just a sliver of the Epstein files.

Meanwhile, the FBI was ordered to work 24/7 to search more than 100,000 Epstein-related records and to flag any mention of the word “Trump,” according to a formal letter by the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The search is likely intended to determine which files to suppress, not which ones to release.

Just today, July 23, the Wall Street Journal again reported that Trump was warned in May by Attorney General Bondi that his name appears in the Epstein files. Inquiring minds want to know in reference to what activities.

The question was raised why the previous administration had access to the same information but chose to not have the Department of Justice pursue it. The simple answer is that, right or wrong, the Democrats opted to not make it a campaign issue. But Trump did.

While Trump now claims that he hardly knew Epstein, there is ample evidence that they were as thick as thieves. When a scandal becomes too big to hide, Trump calls it a hoax. Americans deserve to know the truth.