Donald Trump slammed a reporter for asking a question about Jeffrey Epstein during a Cabinet meeting July 8, 2025. Photo: Video screenshot
Subscribe for Updates!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
You have Successfully Subscribed!
The simple fact is that all those who have abused children should be prosecuted and put behind bars, no matter who they are or what their station in life.
Well, another day of dancing on the damaged desktops of right-wing media figures over their freakout about the collapse of the Jeffrey Epstein files story. Conservative and liberal columnists alike are having a field day excavating podcast appearances by Kash Patel promising that if he was in power, he would release all the stuff the FBI has on Epstein immediately. “Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are,” Patel bellowed on the YouTube show of Trump-promoter Benny Johnson in 2023.
Dan Bongino, the conservative radio host turned Deputy Director of the FBI, made a career out of promoting Epstein conspiracies, beginning with the theory that Epstein didn’t commit suicide in the Manhattan Correctional Center but was murdered to end his prosecution for sex trafficking and coverup the scandal of “elites” who were Epstein’s “clients.”
MAGA world wasn’t happy yesterday when an FBI memo leaked, blowing up the entire Jeffrey Epstein Conspiracy Industrial Complex. The FBI released video tape taken in the federal prison in lower Manhattan from the night Epstein died in 2019 showing no one entered his cell from 10:40 p.m. when he was locked down for the night, until 6:30 the next morning when he was found dead. Conveniently, the FBI memo concluded that Epstein never had a so-called client list that MAGA world had contended he used to blackmail business leaders, celebrities and political figures.
There was much chortling in February when Attorney General Pam Bondi, with great fanfare, released binders titled “The Epstein Files: Phase One” to a gaggle of right-wing influencers who had been invited to the White House. The binders turned out to contain news stories about Epstein and other publicly available material. Bondi attempted to explain away the disappointing “declassified” public material by telling reporters that the DOJ was going through a “truckload” of Epstein material provided by the FBI. Questioned on Fox News about the Epstein client list, Bondi claimed, “It’s sitting on my desk right now.”
Look at what happened within the walls of the White House today: Trump, Bondi, and Patel appeared before the press and tried to explain away the sudden collapse of the Epstein story. Bondi claimed she wasn’t referring to an Epstein client list but rather to an Epstein file that was “sitting on my desk, along with the JFK, MLK files as well. That’s what I meant by that.”
Trump jumped in, replying to the question by bringing up the tragedy of the drownings in Texas in comparison: “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years. You’re asking—we have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things. And are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable.”
“This creep” was a close friend of Donald Trump’s in Manhattan for years. Trump and his wife Melania were photographed with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his fixer and pimp, at a Manhattan party, and there are many other photos of Trump and Epstein together. Could that explain the backpedaling, dodging, and chasm-jumping that the White House, DOJ, and FBI are doing today about Trump and his friend?
There is a problem with all the fun MAGA world has been having with the Epstein story: He was a pedophile, and his victims were young girls who were lured to his Manhattan apartment, Palm Beach mansion, and other properties, including his private estate in the Virgin Islands, with promises of acting and modeling careers. Instead, they were sexually assaulted by adult males including Epstein himself and a member of the British royal family, among others.
I cannot attempt to even imagine the hideous experience of being abused like the young victims of Jeffrey Epstein. The sexual abuse of underage girls and boys is not a story. It is a horror that has involved the Catholic Church, protestant religious denominations, and the entertainment business. The horror knows no boundaries. It happens down the street from you and me. People you know, both male and female, have been abused as children.
It is a sad commentary that it takes a public figure like Jeffrey Epstein, or a prominent Bishop, or celebrity television preacher for this terrible behavior of our species to become public, and it is even sadder that the abuse of children became a spectacle that today landed within the White House, the office and residence of the President of the United States.
That Donald Trump’s Attorney General was questioned in his presence about her handling of a sex scandal involving one of his personal friends is an enormous outrage that in another time, involving another man, would have brought down a president. That in itself is a terrible commentary on how low we have fallen as the nation that put that man in that room in that previously august national treasure known as the White House.
But it is too easy to lose sight of the story behind the scandal, the very real damage that has been done again and again, over and over, to little children who were powerless to stop the powerful men who destroyed their innocence and scarred them for life, whether those men were presidents, businessmen, celebrities, or their own fathers, uncles, or neighbors.
The story of Jeffrey Epstein and the crimes he committed is not a political story. It is not something that should be bandied about by podcasters and television news hosts, or in posts on platforms like X and Facebook. Child abuse is a civilizational tragedy and a crime. All those who have abused children should be prosecuted and put behind bars, no matter who they are or what their station in life.
Period.
Lucian K. Truscott IV
Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He has covered stories such as Watergate, the Stonewall riots and wars in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels and several unsuccessful motion pictures. He has three children, lives in rural Pennsylvania and spends his time Worrying About the State of Our Nation and madly scribbling in a so-far fruitless attempt to Make Things Better.
You can read Lucian Truscott's daily articles at luciantruscott.substack.com. We encourage our readers to get a subscription.
{"id":null,"mode":"form","open_style":"in_place","currency_code":"USD","currency_symbol":"$","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":500,"top_media_type":"none","featured_image_url":false,"featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"Leave a tip","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Pay","payment_request_label":"Factkeepers.com","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"Help Support Factkeepers","form_subtitle":null,"currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you for being a supporter!","payment_confirmation_title":"Factkeepers.com","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like.","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}
