If Trump did nothing wrong, why is he so eager to keep the Epstein files hidden?

If someone is innocent, they have every reason to want as much information as possible made public about a suspected offense. As the saying goes, the truth will set you free.

Epstein and Trump

But Donald Trump is doing the exact opposite when it comes to the Epstein files. That doesn’t prove Trump was guilty of sexually abusing underage girls, as Epstein and his female accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, did. It sure raises questions that demand answers, though.

Since a discharge petition that would force a vote on a House bill compelling the Justice Department to release files relating to the investigation into Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls was about to reach the required 218 signatures after the Speaker of the House was forced to swear in a Democratic representative who had been waiting for 50 days after she won a special election in Arizona, the Trump administration put heavy pressure on three Republican female representatives who had signed the petition.

In a truly bizarre move, today Rep. Lauren Boebert was summoned to the White House Situation Room, which usually is used only for important national security issues like the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

It [the petition reaching 218 signatures] came the same day that top officials had summoned Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican who has signed the petition, to a meeting in the White House Situation Room with Attorney General Pam Bondi and the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel. to discuss her demand to release the files, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Boebert stood her ground, thankfully.

Also today, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released three emails supplied by the Epstein estate that point to a close relationship between Trump and Epstein. Here’s screenshots from a New York Times story, “What Newly Released Emails Tell Us About Epstein and Trump.”

While the meaning and importance of these emails can be debated, what’s crystal clear is that Ghislaine Maxwell didn’t tell the truth when she told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that Trump had never been in Epstein’s house. The first email above says in part, “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump. [Victim] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned.” “I have been thinking about that … ” Maxwell replied.

Now we just have to wait and see if, or when, the Justice Department files on Epstein will be released. Even if the House votes to release the files next week, the Senate still has to take up that bill, and the Republican Senate Majority Leader isn’t required to do this. Trump could veto the bill even if both the House and Senate pass it.

While the House Oversight Committee approved a subpoena for the Justice Department files, release of the files is being slow-walked, undoubtedly at the behest of Trump. If the Justice Department appeals the subpoena, which seems likely, the case could end up in the Supreme Court — a lengthy process.

It sure seems that Trump is desperate to keep the files from being released because he has something to hide. Whether we’ll ever know what that something is, that’s open to question. Since Trump has a sordid history of sexually abusing women himself, there’s good reason to think that at a minimum he knew what Epstein was doing and chose to ignore it. What the maximum might be… release the files so the public can find out.