I didn’t see that coming, but it’s the smart play.
The Democrats had set a trap for House Republicans when Trump was opposing the bill
If they voted to release, they risked Trump’s ire, and the possibility that he would primary them with a wild-eyed nutbag incapable of winning the general election.
If they voted against the release, they would go to their next election as a defender of pedophiles.
Either way, it was a win for Democrats looking forward to the mid-terms.
It was also a loss for Trump personally, since an estimated 100 Republicans were prepared to vote for release, against his wishes.
The Republicans tried to avoid the trap by calling for the bill to pass by unanimous consent, but the Democrats declined that deal, insisting that every Republican vote on the record.
The Republicans tried to spin that by saying that the Democrats didn’t really want the files released, since they offered to pass it unanimously. Nobody bought that line of argument, which was truly absurd, since Democrats were behind the release 100%.
Just when it looked as if the Republicans were trapped, and Trump would be embarrassed by an estimated 100 Republicans voting against his wishes, Trump came to the rescue by reversing course and encouraging them all to vote for it.
That was smart politics.
This move was just about the VOTE to release, not the release itself. He gave himself and the Republicans a slick escape from the trap. If he really wanted the files released, he could have done that tonight, on his own authority. He don’t need no stinkin’ vote.
————–
The question now is: “What is his next step?” Nobody can say at this point.
1. Will he try to keep the Senate from passing it or bringing it to the floor?
2. Will he ask Senators to pass it, then veto it?
3. Will he let the bill pass, then withhold the files because they are important to “an ongoing investigation”? (Thus using this or some other lame excuse to drag it through the courts for months or years.)
4. Has he already had his lickspittles destroy or redact everything detrimental to himself, and is therefore comfortable with releasing everything remaining?
5. Is he sincere about releasing everything, including items that embarrass him?
It’s probably not number 5, but nobody is sure what he plans to do. Stay tuned.
The only sincere thing he’s ever said was about wanting to fuck his daughter.
And who can blame him for that one, so do I (Trump’s daughter, not mine).
They may not have been able to release the files until Ghislaine Maxwell exhausted her appeals, since they were evidence in her case.
Merrick Garland was kind of a feckless wimp, but nobody ever accused him of not following the book.
I don’t know. I’m just speculating. I’d love to hear the answer myself. You’d have to ask Garland and Chris Wray about that, and they have been silent through this process.
The screaming comes from people (mostly on the right, especially early on) pissed that The Shitass had humped this issue mercilessly during the campaign and was now doing his signature “Ha ha, you trusted me. Boy did you fuck up!” routine.
I thought you were anti-hypocrisy, or is this one of those ironic screen names?
Frankly, people’s motivations aren’t relevant, and discussing them is just a distraction. The important fact is that there is no reason NOT to release the files, yet the President will not do so.
His refusal is tantamount to walking past a pride of lionesses while doused in impala blood.
He can make the whole Epstein controversy go away, and end all the discussion, by simply releasing the files unredacted (except for the names of victims), but he refuses to do so, despite his claim that he has nothing to hide, which makes everybody think that he does have something to hide.
His refusal is what makes the Democrats smell impala blood.
Again, none of that is really relevant to the question of whether the files should be released.
The only key issue is that there is no reason NOT to release the files, and lots of reasons to release them.
Yet here we are.
Factually incorrect. You don’t know what you’re talking about.
Stop making a fool of yourself to defend a pedophile, you stupid culty goober.
MAGA prefers fiction over fact.
Utterly clueless aren’t you? And obviously crude.
Irony coming from someone supporting a wannabe dictator who today said that anyone stating the military should follow the constitution and not obey any unlawful orders should be jailed and hung. Just another petulant outburst hiding behind his phone wishing someone else would enact violence for dare dissenting against the fuckhead.
For someone who came on here to argue from the right about discussion with a name HatingHypocrites, its irony the one you support absolutely doesn’t want to hear any facts and logic proving his positions are wrong and wants to crush dissent.
Not any sort of executive branch legal scholar over here, but if Trump actually wanted to release the files he simply could just do that. The only reason they are voting is to force their release after his refusal.
Sounds right, which means he has another plan.
How about a payoff from the guilty parties in exchange for a veto? That fits the Trump model.
Wait… “Asked what Bondi told him about the review of the Epstein files and if his name appeared at all, Trump responded, “No, no, she’s given us just a very quick briefing,” before making baseless claims that the files were created by some of his political foes”
They must have finally finished scrubbing everything incriminating to him and his allies.
I wonder how MAGA voters would feel about it though. Even if everything is released now and there’s nothing incriminating, why the long ass delay to fulfill an election promise? And what about all that bullshit about it being a Democrat hoax and about trying to distract from the Republicans’ success in Congress? The damage has to have been done, unless two weeks later everybody forgets about it.
If he tries to block it in the senate or vetoes, this move makes no sense. Gains him zero.
The concept of the files being purged doesn’t play. There’s no reason to redact them. He’s a dead pedo, not selling nuclear secrets. If there’s any evidence of tampering, that’s worse than not releasing them. Given that this stuff is said to contain Financials and such, that also means there will be context. There would be a Trump shaped hole.
Why did he make this move? I’m honestly thinking Miller and Vance and such convinced him to, and plan on impeaching him, 25th amendmenting him, or Epsteining him. Problem is, the cult dies with him. Vance can’t keep MAGA faithful. It all crumbles when Trump falls.
They were still enslaved to the idea they had to save Clinton. Were waiting on him to die. Foolish. We’re fine with him dying in prison. Hillary too if she’s complicit.
Boy oh boy, if anyone thinks the release of the Epstein files is going to be straightforward, you’ve obviously not been watching long enough…
What Trump says and what he does are almost always two different things. If he’s saying publicly Republicans should release the files then he’s definitely working behind the scenes to make sure they don’t. I think it’s highly likely he’s had most, if not all incriminating evidence removed or altered. If he hasn’t, then he’ll veto it if it reaches his desk. Whether or not he does veto it, both outcomes will be politically ruinous for him.
I guess at this point I’ve watched him weather scandal after scandal after scandal. I’ve heard his base is cracking. I’ve heard “this time he’s cooked”. And yet, like a cheetah dusted phoenix he just keeps rising from the ashes. I feel this is just like all the other times he’s been on the ropes. Which is to say, he’s not on the ropes and we will be stuck with him until his term ends or until he decides his time is up (which could be longer than his term).
It’s like training a cat: you figure out what the cat is going to do, then tell it to do that. So when significant Rs in the house vote for release, it won’t look like they’re defecting from Fucko.
“The Senate is thought unlikely to produce the necessary support to advance the legislation, however, and the Senate majority whip, John Barrasso, speaking on NBC on Sunday, declined to commit to holding a vote even if the pending bill passes in the House.”
I’m ready for this to be over, I don’t think anything else is going to be exposed, its just another distraction to him crashing the economy, inflation, and burning up the deficit with his bullshit authoritarian expenses that isn’t making anyone’s lives better.
The funny thing is, it shows how protective the GOP is of Trump, when people on the left couldn’t give a shit less if Bill Clinton or others are implicated by any of this. No one on the left has anything near the devoted cult of MAGA.
Is he as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has moved on, and is now working for the UN at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning?
Although, unlike most of the people in the UN Cunning Commission, who are normally required to speak several languages, he is not a cunning linguist.
“President Trump said he would sign legislation to release files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, one day after he abandoned his longstanding opposition to the measure.”
But what is he REALLY up to?
Epstein’s brother has come out and said the files are being scrubbed of Republican names. I’m not sure how redactions help their cause though, it just makes them look even more suspicious. They could take a hint from UFO world with how much more interest released documents get when huge chunks of a page are wiped out.
That’s if you document the redactions…
I’m not sure if anyone is so conversant with those files that they would know if anything is missing. Given that premise, it makes more sense to torch the troublesome files rather than to make suspicious redactions.
Destroying the files would also be consistent with Trump’s history.
Here we go…”The legislation says the attorney general may withhold or redact any information that identifies victims or would jeopardize an active federal investigation.”
That’s the nugget we were wondering about!
So the new tactic seems to be: withhold anything that they feel like withholding and release a few things heavily redacted.
That shows why Trump ordered those investigations last week. It gives him carte blanche to withhold anything he doesn’t like because “it’s evidence.”
Again, that was a smart play. That’s two in the last two weeks:
1) ordering the investigations was a brilliant way to hide the files, while disguised as selective prosecution – thus distracting the press and hiding his true motive
2) changing his instructions on the House vote bailed himself and the GOP Representatives out of a trap.
I have to say that he is much more cunning than I gave him credit for. The last two weeks are the first times he has shown the ability to anticipate future moves and make counter-moves, rather than always acting on impulse.
That doesn’t make him Bobby Fischer, but it does show that he’s not as dumb as he seems.
Doubt Trump figured that out…Likely one of his sycophants.
I notice no reporting that Epstein was coordinating through text messages with DEMOCRAT Stacey Plaskett but I guess it’s too hard to report that
I’m sure your propaganda channels: FOX News, NewsMax, OANN, brainwashed streamers and radio shows of the brainrot conservative media is doing plenty of what-about-isms about it. Anything to protect King Trump. Glad you got his balls out of your mouth for a split second enough to post that though.
CNN covered that in depth several days ago.
Epstein visited Clinton white house 17 times Trump Whitehouse 0
Judges that blocked Trump DOJ from releasing Grand jury documents
Richard Berman appointed by Clinton
Paul Englemeyer Appointed by Obama
Robin Rosenberg Appointed by Obama
more facts left out conspicuously by the fair truthful knowledgeable uncle scoopy
All the more reason to release all the files!
(Grand Jury files are tricky, because they are secret by law. Releasing them requires the petitioner to demonstrate an overwhelming necessity to do so, a significant and compelling reason, like concern for public safety, or suspicion of prosecutorial misconduct. Even when those reasons are present, it may not justify release to the public, but only to certain interested parties.
I suppose those judges made proper legal decisions, even though I wanted to see the evidence. I don’t know enough about the law to second-guess them. Let’s hope that there is a way that these can somehow become public eventually, at least in redacted format, in the interest of full disclosure. But again, it requires a really significant reason to release grand jury transcripts, even if both Democrats and Republicans agree that it’s a good idea. “Good idea” doesn’t cross the legal threshold.)
Again, don’t let all those distractions draw you away from the main question: should the Epstein files be released or not? All that “he said, she said” stuff isn’t relevant. The key fact still remains: there is no good reason to keep the files secret, and there are many good reasons to release them (redacted, of course, to protect the victims).
As for Bill Clinton, if he was a pervert, that should be revealed, and he should face whatever consequences pertain.
Note:
In emails released in late 2025 by the House Oversight Committee, Epstein explicitly wrote that “Clinton was NEVER EVER there, never”. Ghislaine Maxwell also told the Department of Justice in a 2025 interview transcript that Clinton never went to the island.
He did fly on Epstein’s plane many times. I think it was 26 legs altogether, during four major trips. But never to the Virgin Islands.
Epstein did make, as you mentioned, 17 visits to the White House in the early Clinton years, including twice a day on several occasions! Some of those times Clinton was not there. Some of those times he attended charity events where he was a donor. Most of the time he seems to have socialized with Mark Middleton.
More important than that, Clinton continued to socialize with Epstein after he left the White House.
Nobody has accused Clinton of knowing about Epstein’s perversions, let alone participating, and Bill Clinton’s last known interactions with Jeffrey Epstein occurred around 2003, but Clinton was a horndog, so nobody would be surprised if he was exposed in some sexual shenanigans, and nobody will jump to his defense if that is the case …
… but there seems to be no evidence of that.
As I’ve mentioned, the one thing I want to see is the flight logs on Epstein’s flights to the Virgin Islands. The U.S. Marshall’s Office supposedly has such a list.
I don’t think that has anything to do with Trump or Clinton, but I’d like to see who’s there.
Better yet, why does MAGA think the left gives a shit about Biden or Bill fucking Clinton? It’s this bizarre obsession they have with trying to point to a Democrat to take them under, as there’s this cult like behavior to shield political figures like they do with Trump. Al Franken got run out of politics for a pittance compared to Trump’s behavior.
People like Angelo don’t get it’s about the policies, not the person. By all means, bury Clinton if he did anything, no one is going to give a damn.