Trump ‘failing to deliver' on Epstein files
'Donald Trump keeps getting asked about this, and the more he shuts it down, the more people are going to ask questions and demand answers,' Ms Power said.
'It seems as though he is losing control of this story because he's comparing the Epstein list to other deep state hoaxes.
'People on both sides … want answers, it's what the American people had been promised, and this administration has really failed to deliver.'
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7NEWS
2 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Former Jeffrey Epstein girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell shares ‘100 names' in meeting with US Department of Justice
Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has finished one-and-a-half days of interviews with US Justice Department officials. 'She answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability,' her lawyer David Oscar Markus told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, where Maxwell met on Friday with Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche. 'She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question, so we're very proud of her,' Markus said. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence and is housed at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee. She was sentenced three years ago after being convicted of helping Epstein, a wealthy, well-connected financier, sexually abuse underage girls. Officials have said Epstein killed himself in his New York jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019, but his case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories because of his and Maxwell's links to famous people, such as royals, presidents and billionaires, including US President Donald Trump. In a social media post this week, Blanche said Maxwell would be interviewed because of President Trump's directive to gather and release any credible evidence about others who may have committed crimes. Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein's crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago. But he faces ongoing questions about the Epstein case, overshadowing his administration's achievements. On Friday, reporters pressed the Republican president about pardoning Maxwell, but he deflected, emphasising his administration's successes. Markus said Maxwell 'was asked maybe about 100 different people'. 'The deputy attorney-general is seeking the truth,' Markus said. 'He asked every possible question, and he was doing an amazing job.' Markus said he did not ask for anything for Maxwell in return, though he acknowledged that Trump could pardon her. 'Listen, the president this morning said he had the power to do so. We hope he exercises that power in the right and just way,' Markus said. Earlier in July, the Justice Department said it would not release more files related to the Epstein investigation, despite promises that claimed otherwise from Attorney-General Pam Bondi. The department also said an Epstein client list does not exist. Maxwell is appealing against her conviction, based on the government's pledge years ago that any potential Epstein co-conspirators would not be charged, Markus said. Epstein struck a deal with federal prosecutors in 2008 that shifted his case to Florida state court, where he pleaded guilty to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. Epstein in 2019 and Maxwell in 2020 were charged in federal court in New York.
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
America's shame is that Trump can remain shameless
A few days earlier a separate Journal story reported on a sexually suggestive letter it said Trump had sent the financier for the occasion of Epstein's 50th birthday. The letter refers to secrets and has a sketch of a naked woman on it. Trump denies he wrote it and is suing the Journal for defamation. Loading On Wednesday, The New York Times published a piece titled 'I Covered the Epstein Case for Decades. These are 9 Questions We Actually Need Answered.' Among the unanswered questions journalist Barry Levine lists are queries about how Epstein made so much money (his estate was worth $600 million), whether he might have been an intelligence asset (which was claimed as an unverified excuse for the leniency of a 2008 plea deal that ended a federal investigation into Epstein), questions over the nature of Epstein's relationship with former US president Bill Clinton (who also appears in the Epstein private jet flight logs), and queries over why the autopsy on Epstein was never made public (many people doubt the report's finding that he died by suicide while in prison). The MAGA heartland has long held as an article of faith that Trump would release the Epstein files when he was in a position to do so. Trump has responded with a frenzy of social media posting, apparently to distract from pressing Epstein-related matters, and has reacted angrily when asked questions about Epstein by reporters. In an apparent concession, Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche interviewed Epstein's convicted accomplice and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. But Blanche was previously Trump's private attorney for his hush-money trial and two federal criminal cases. Suspicions inevitably arise that he might be predisposed to protect the interests of the president. Loading It is a scenario worthy of a political thriller – The Da Vinci Code set in the post-#MeToo era. Trump's history of sexual misconduct is well known, spans decades and has been successfully tested in court. Comedian Stephen Colbert calls it the president's 'long public history of pervitude'. Paramount cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last week, with many commentators concluding it was at least partly due to the host's mockery of Trump. Undeterred, Colbert – who will continue to present the show until May – played a tape of Trump talking to US radio shock jock Howard Stern in 2006. After boasting he could easily bed a 24-year-old, the then-60-year-old Trump was asked if he had an 'age limit' when it came to women. 'No, I don't have an age limit,' Trump told Stern, before correcting himself – slightly. 'You know, I don't want to be, like … with 12-year-olds.' It is a truism that Trump has redefined the terms of shamelessness in public life with his sexual exploits, brags about sexual assault, and the judicial findings against him of sexual assault. None of it has made any difference to his popularity among his base. If anything, the moral outrage over Trump's doings only galvanises his fervent supporters in his defence. Loading Whatever is in the Epstein files regarding Trump may indeed be shameful for the president by any objective measure, but that measure no longer exists in American public life. Few observers of American politics believe Trump could be damaged substantially by further revelations of sexual misconduct. Those in his base who are pressuring Trump to release the files are not suspicious about the president's potential sexual wrongdoing. They are piqued by a betrayal of faith – they believed Trump was the guy who would work to unmask the deep-state Democrat paedophiles on their behalf. On Friday, The Australian Financial Review published a long interview with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Lewinsky has become a latter-day feminist heroine, whose public shaming following her affair with then-president Bill Clinton was epic and unprecedented. Her notoriety was such that, for a decade or so after the event, Lewinsky struggled to get a date or a job interview. The affair was consensual but the exploitative power dynamics at play – she was a 22-year-old intern, he was the world's most powerful man – are undeniable in the contemporary context. Clinton lied about the affair and it almost ended his presidency. But I do not think you could say any substantial moral shame adheres to him, all these decades later, from the affair. Meanwhile, Lewinsky has spent the rest of her life – she is now 52 – trying to expunge her shame and to make amends for it in the court of public opinion. It seems likely that the public has not been told the whole story about the people and institutions that enabled Epstein to offend against vulnerable girls, at such scale, over decades. But you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to believe that whatever comes out, the shame of it all will defy gravity and bounce off some, while sticking to others.
Sydney Morning Herald
3 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
America's shame is that Trump can remain shameless
A few days earlier a separate Journal story reported on a sexually suggestive letter it said Trump had sent the financier for the occasion of Epstein's 50th birthday. The letter refers to secrets and has a sketch of a naked woman on it. Trump denies he wrote it and is suing the Journal for defamation. Loading On Wednesday, The New York Times published a piece titled 'I Covered the Epstein Case for Decades. These are 9 Questions We Actually Need Answered.' Among the unanswered questions journalist Barry Levine lists are queries about how Epstein made so much money (his estate was worth $600 million), whether he might have been an intelligence asset (which was claimed as an unverified excuse for the leniency of a 2008 plea deal that ended a federal investigation into Epstein), questions over the nature of Epstein's relationship with former US president Bill Clinton (who also appears in the Epstein private jet flight logs), and queries over why the autopsy on Epstein was never made public (many people doubt the report's finding that he died by suicide while in prison). The MAGA heartland has long held as an article of faith that Trump would release the Epstein files when he was in a position to do so. Trump has responded with a frenzy of social media posting, apparently to distract from pressing Epstein-related matters, and has reacted angrily when asked questions about Epstein by reporters. In an apparent concession, Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche interviewed Epstein's convicted accomplice and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. But Blanche was previously Trump's private attorney for his hush-money trial and two federal criminal cases. Suspicions inevitably arise that he might be predisposed to protect the interests of the president. Loading It is a scenario worthy of a political thriller – The Da Vinci Code set in the post-#MeToo era. Trump's history of sexual misconduct is well known, spans decades and has been successfully tested in court. Comedian Stephen Colbert calls it the president's 'long public history of pervitude'. Paramount cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last week, with many commentators concluding it was at least partly due to the host's mockery of Trump. Undeterred, Colbert – who will continue to present the show until May – played a tape of Trump talking to US radio shock jock Howard Stern in 2006. After boasting he could easily bed a 24-year-old, the then-60-year-old Trump was asked if he had an 'age limit' when it came to women. 'No, I don't have an age limit,' Trump told Stern, before correcting himself – slightly. 'You know, I don't want to be, like … with 12-year-olds.' It is a truism that Trump has redefined the terms of shamelessness in public life with his sexual exploits, brags about sexual assault, and the judicial findings against him of sexual assault. None of it has made any difference to his popularity among his base. If anything, the moral outrage over Trump's doings only galvanises his fervent supporters in his defence. Loading Whatever is in the Epstein files regarding Trump may indeed be shameful for the president by any objective measure, but that measure no longer exists in American public life. Few observers of American politics believe Trump could be damaged substantially by further revelations of sexual misconduct. Those in his base who are pressuring Trump to release the files are not suspicious about the president's potential sexual wrongdoing. They are piqued by a betrayal of faith – they believed Trump was the guy who would work to unmask the deep-state Democrat paedophiles on their behalf. On Friday, The Australian Financial Review published a long interview with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Lewinsky has become a latter-day feminist heroine, whose public shaming following her affair with then-president Bill Clinton was epic and unprecedented. Her notoriety was such that, for a decade or so after the event, Lewinsky struggled to get a date or a job interview. The affair was consensual but the exploitative power dynamics at play – she was a 22-year-old intern, he was the world's most powerful man – are undeniable in the contemporary context. Clinton lied about the affair and it almost ended his presidency. But I do not think you could say any substantial moral shame adheres to him, all these decades later, from the affair. Meanwhile, Lewinsky has spent the rest of her life – she is now 52 – trying to expunge her shame and to make amends for it in the court of public opinion. It seems likely that the public has not been told the whole story about the people and institutions that enabled Epstein to offend against vulnerable girls, at such scale, over decades. But you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to believe that whatever comes out, the shame of it all will defy gravity and bounce off some, while sticking to others.
