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Listen to this article \u00b7 7:34 min Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n By The Editorial Board<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding <\/strong>values<\/a>. It is separate from the newsroom.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Given all of the conspiratorial noise about the Jeffrey Epstein story, we understand why some Americans are tempted to look away at this point. Still, it deserves attention because it has become a case study in the ways that President Trump and his aides manipulate the public and abuse power. Even if the Epstein files that the Justice Department must release by Dec. 19<\/a> contain no significant revelations about Mr. Trump, the president is already guilty of acting with contempt for the public at nearly every turn in this saga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Mr. Trump were any other American president, his personal relationship with Mr. Epstein would be a major scandal on its own. The two were once friends and enjoyed joking about their reputations for chasing women. \u201cHe\u2019s a lot of fun to be with,\u201d Mr. Trump said about Mr. Epstein in a 2002 magazine profile<\/a>. \u201cIt is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a crude birthday note to Mr. Epstein in 2003, Mr. Trump apparently signed his name<\/a> in the place of pubic hair inside a sketch of a naked woman\u2019s body. The note includes the line \u201cmay every day be another wonderful secret.\u201d The two men had a falling out, for unclear reasons, before Mr. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges that involved sexual behavior with a 16-year-old girl. In 2019, as Mr. Epstein\u2019s world was collapsing, he wrote in an email<\/a>about Mr. Trump, \u201cOf course he knew about the girls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Mr. Trump\u2019s 2024 presidential campaign the Epstein case had become a MAGA obsession, related to Mr. Epstein\u2019s associations with powerful people, some of them Democrats. And Mr. Trump\u2019s campaign was happy to use the speculation for political advantage. He indicated in interviews that he would release the files<\/a>, and his allies went further, encouraging conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n JD Vance, Mr. Trump\u2019s vice presidential nominee, said that releasing the files was \u201cimportant.\u201d Donald Trump Jr. speculated that his father\u2019s opponents were \u201ctrying to protect those pedophiles.\u201d Elon Musk declared: \u201cPart of why Kamala is getting so much support is that, if Trump wins, that Epstein client list is going to become public. And some of those billionaires behind Kamala are terrified of that outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once Mr. Trump returned to the presidency, he had the power to do as he had indicated he would and order a broad release of the files. He did not. Instead, his subordinates tried to make it seem as though they were champions of transparency while avoiding the release of new information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The timeline<\/a> is damning. In late February, administration officials invited right-wing influencers to the White House and gave them binders of Epstein documents, although some attendees were disappointed<\/a> that they contained little new information. Two days later, Attorney General Pam Bondi proclaimed that Americans would \u201cget the full Epstein files\u201d with redactions to \u201cprotect grand jury information and confidential witnesses.\u201d In March, she spoke publicly about a \u201ctruckload\u201d of new evidence that her department had recently received. \u201cEverything\u2019s going to come out to the public,\u201d Ms. Bondi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But then the administration\u2019s approach changed \u2014 after Ms. Bondi briefed Mr. Trump that his name appeared in the files<\/a>. \u201cAre you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?\u201d the president snapped at reporters in July. \u201cThis guy\u2019s been talked about for years.\u201d That month, the Justice Department said<\/a> it had no client list and would stop revealing Epstein material to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the 2024 campaign, the Trump team had profited from indulging speculation; once in power, and apparently worried about Mr. Trump\u2019s vulnerability, their opportunism was exposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At this point, Mr. Trump undertook an aggressive effort<\/a> to prevent the release of additional information. After two House members \u2014 Ro Khanna, a Democrat of California, and Thomas Massie, a Republican of Kentucky \u2014 started a petition to order its release, Mr. Trump blasted Mr. Massie as disloyal and tried to intimidate other Republicans into not signing on. He appears to have pressured Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, to use procedural maneuvers to prevent the matter from receiving a vote. He lashed out on social media at \u201cPAST supporters\u201d for pressing \u201cthe Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.\u201d In July, he became the first sitting president<\/a> to file a personal defamation lawsuit against a media organization when he sued The Wall Street Journal\u2019s parent company and two of its journalists for reporting on the Epstein birthday note. The Journal has stood by the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As it became clear this fall that the Khanna-Massie petition would succeed and the House would pass a bill mandating more disclosure, Mr. Trump reversed himself again. First, he weaponized the Justice Department for partisan advantage and directed it<\/a> to investigate Mr. Epstein\u2019s ties with Democrats \u2014 not with Republicans. Finally, Mr. Trump flipped his position on the House bill two nights before the scheduled vote, urged Republicans to vote for it and then ridiculously claimed credit for its passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He signed the bill on Nov. 19, compelling the Justice Department to release the files within 30 days. The law allows for the redaction of victims\u2019 information, as well as the withholding of materials related to national defense or an active federal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We want to<\/strong> emphasize that we are conflicted about the release of the files. Investigative materials are not normally part of the public record for a reason. They typically include a mixture of facts, speculation and false leads, and can unfairly damage reputations. The material can sometimes hurt victims. We also recognize that Mr. Epstein\u2019s case is not typical. It suggested a moral rot in America\u2019s elite circles because Mr. Epstein remained a part of some of those circles long after he had to register as a sex offender. Many of his victims, feeling betrayed by the justice system, understandably want the files to become public. Many other Americans want the chance to assess the conduct of investigators and prosecutors, as well as Mr. Epstein\u2019s influential friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if the wisdom of releasing the files is a nuanced issue, Mr. Trump\u2019s behavior has been indefensible. His campaign took advantage of monstrous crimes for his political benefit. He misled the American public about his dealings with Mr. Epstein and his attitude toward the files\u2019 release. He politicized the Justice Department on this matter, as on so many others<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that the same department will be in charge of redacting the documents to protect innocent people, national security and ongoing investigations, Americans should view the product of this review with skepticism. There is every reason to believe that the Trump administration will exploit the process to protect any of its allies named in the files (starting with the president himself) and to embarrass Democrats and other perceived Trump enemies. Congress should be ready to defy Mr. Trump on this subject again and investigate the Justice Department\u2019s handling of the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of how often Mr. Trump himself appears in the files, Americans should not define deviancy down. They should expect more from their presidents, even this one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE EDITORIAL BOARD Dec. 3, 2025 OPINION Listen to this article \u00b7 7:34 min Learn more By The Editorial Board The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom. Given all of the conspiratorial noise about the Jeffrey Epstein story, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17447"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17477,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17447\/revisions\/17477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n