Trump is in an Epstein-shaped pit, and he can't stop digging

In the last week, Donald Trump has done something incredible: He's made me wonder if the QAnon conspiracy theorists were partially right all along.

Ten days ago, any mention of the "Epstein List" only caused me to roll my eyes, and any claim about some vast plot to hide the evidence of Epstein blackmailing major political figures made me tune out completely. But the way the Department of Justice has tried to bury this story, and Trump's ongoing angry response to everyone who doesn't happily grab a shovel, has made me rethink the whole thing.

He's even managed to make me question Epstein's suicide. I mean, I hate conspiracy theories, and I hate even more how Trump, J.D. Vance, and a host of right-wing pundits have dragged the gullible around on puppet strings. But holy hell ...

… the detention facility where Epstein was found hanged, had around 150 analog surveillance cameras—but starting on July 29, 2019, a technical error prevented roughly half of them from recording, including most inside the SHU. The system was scheduled for repairs on August 9, the night before Epstein was found dead. But the technician assigned to fix it couldn’t access the necessary equipment because the corrections officer required to escort him was nearing the end of their shift.

One of the most infamous prisoners in the country is locked up in a heavily secured facility, but half the cameras in the place go dead—including "most" in the area where Epstein was held—and when a technician shows up to fix them he's turned away with an jaw-droppingly lame excuse one day before Epstein is found dead in his cell.

Top this off with the DOJ releasing a "raw" video that isn't raw, features a one-minute hole at a critical time, and most importantly is looking at the wrong place.

... only two cameras were operational near the SHU at the time MCC staff found Epstein hanging in his cell: one covering the common area and stairwells near the entrance to the adjacent 10 South Unit, and another monitoring a ninth-floor elevator bay. Neither captured Epstein’s cell door.

There is a cell door visible in the DOJ video. It's not Epstein's.

This information comes from another of the excellent stories in Wired, which seems to have shouldered the entire burden of investigative journalism on this topic while the Times and Post ran off to check how old Joe Biden is this week. No wonder Jeff Bezos is reporting trying to buy Wired out.

However, even if Epstein's death was entirely self-authored, that doesn't solve the bigger issue. For years, the whole MAGA movement has been pounding the Epstein drum. Trump has been one of the key instigators in spreading conspiracy theories about both Epstein's death and his clients. That included saying he would have "no problem" making Epstein's client list public. He repeated this statement on multiple occasions during the run-up to the 2024 election, including a promise to declassify the Epstein files.

Trump wasn't the only one. Vance made Epstein a regular part of both his appearances and social media, including telling a pundit, “Seriously, we need to release the Epstein list. That is an important thing.” He also tweeted, “What possible interest would the U.S. government have in keeping Epstein’s clients secret?" before insinuating that well-known Democrats were on the list.

Donald Trump Jr demanded, "Show us all the Epstein client list now!!! Why would anyone protect those scum bags? Ask yourselves this question daily and the answer becomes very apparent!!"

Pam Bondi made right-wing saliva flow in February with a promise that "It's sitting on my desk right now to review."

And, during an "off" phase of his on-again, off-again relationship with Trump, Elon Musk reminded everyone of the list with a tweet saying, “Time to drop the really big bomb. @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”

The idea that there was an Epstein client list containing the names of those who accompanied the infamous sex trafficker to his island, and information about how he used those visits to extort the famous and powerful, isn't something that can be waved away with a brief memo claiming there is nothing to see here. This is MAGA religion.

This is something that's been at their pizza menu-secret basement core from the beginning. Releasing that list is supposed to kick off their long-awaited purge of the baby-eating, child-raping deep state. It's the MAGA version of the Eras Tour. It's the Super Bowl and the Rapture.

Taking away the Epstein list is like telling them that Christmas isn't coming. Oh, and by the way, Santa isn't real.

Not only did the DOJ release a bland, completely unconvincing two-page memo announcing there would be no soup for anyone, they followed it up with that deeply compromised video. Then Bondi fired the prosecutor who handled both Epstein and his longtime partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. Compared to this, the final flight of the Hindenburg went swimmingly.

But everything that Bondi and the DOJ have done hasn't been half as damaging as Trump's reaction. Trump tried flying the "no one cares about Epstein" flag, and when that was shot down, he switched to pretending that any files on Bondi's desk were “made up by Comey, they were made up by Obama, they were made up by the Biden." The Biden. He's just the worst.

And now Trump has moved on to screaming at his supporters for refusing to sit down and shut up about the guy who once called a friend.

"PAST supporters have bought into this bullshit hook, line, and sinker ... Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!"

That's right. <sniff> He doesn't want their support. Those poopyheads. He never liked them anyway. <sniff>

Maybe the best thing about this is that Trump can't fix it. It's too late. No matter what comes out now, no matter how damning, those who have been parsing everything about Epstein for a decade will never get past the idea that Trump is hiding something worse.

There is nothing Bondi could release that would satisfy them, and nothing Trump can say that won't make things worse.

That doesn't mean that Trump won't survive. However, some portion of his supporters are now exactly what he says, "past supporters." And even for those who agree to shut up and go along, this is a fundamental shift in how the MAGA movement sees its leader.

What’s already coming out is amazing, and every new scrap that emerges only shoots another hole in the faith Trump supports have in Bondi, Other administration officials, and Trump.

Update