July 24, 2025
Donald Trump’s 2003 birthday note to his pal Jeffrey Epstein has been public for almost a week. It’s damning.
The good news for Trump is that the missive has done what damage it’s going to do. He has claimed the card is a hoax. That argument isn’t intellectually plausible or politically compelling. What would be politically compelling is if Trump were to order the release of the files. Why not? If the birthday note were the worst thing for Trump in the Epstein files, why wouldn’t he now take the popular position that all the files should be made public? That would change the dynamic of the scandal. He’d be able to move on, in a way that he can’t do now when he’s having to argue that the card isn’t authentic, or argue that the Obama and Biden administration doctored the still hidden files, or argue that President Obama is guilty of treason.
Of course, there’s an obvious reason Trump isn’t taking the path of making the files public: He knows there is material in them more damning for him than the birthday note. Trump's continued commitment to the coverup only makes sense if there's something even worse about Trump in the Epstein files.
The political damage of the ongoing coverup is real. That’s why Speaker Mike Johnson is recessing the House early rather than trying to force his members to vote against resolutions for releasing the files.
Johnson explained Monday that, “We need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing.” In other words, he wants to give the administration time over the recess to organize a more effective coverup, perhaps by striking a deal with Ghislaine Maxwell.
The next six weeks will probably make or break the coverup. If Congress returns and Trump’s efforts at distraction haven’t worked, or if he hasn’t arranged some sort of deal with Maxwell, or if he hasn’t succeeded in having Pam Bondi and Kash Patel “discover” the files have been doctored by Biden and Obama, or if Bondi and Patel haven’t managed to purge the files of whatever is terrifying him, then he could lose political control of the situation. Republicans will return in September and vote to release the files. The coverup will become even more of a political burden for Trump and the Republicans in the fall.
This means we have to keep an eagle eye on what Trump and Bondi and Patel are up to over the next six weeks. And we need to encourage patriots within the government to keep us apprised of what nefarious schemes might be underway.
The message from those of us in opposition about the coverup is also important. It shouldn’t be “Release the Epstein files that mention Trump.” It should be “Release all the files.”
The Epstein affair is a genuine scandal that reaches beyond Trump. It’s the story of a shameful coverup of horrible crimes on behalf of our political, social, and financial elites. The worst sexual predator of recent decades was close to two U.S. presidents—and to countless others in positions of power, wealth, and celebrity. In the face of such corruption and elite self-protection, the principled opposition must favor releasing all the files, exposing all the facts, without regard to who benefits.
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So: If well-known Democrats get hurt by the files’ release? Tough. If the Biden and Obama and Bush administrations all get criticized for not doing enough to bring justice to Epstein’s victims and accountability to his associates? Tough. If life becomes awkward for some establishment big shots? Tough.
In fact, good. Releasing the files would be good for the sake of basic justice and accountability. But it would also be good for the Democratic party. Yes, that party should go into the 2026 and 2028 elections as the party of responsible governance and the defender of democratic institutions. But it should also go into those elections as the party of righteous popular anger at terrible elite behavior and its indefensible coverup.
Democrats have been struggling for a message. Here’s one, from a great liberal reformer of a century ago—a progressive Republican who became a Democrat in 1912, and who wrote a famous article in 1913 entitled “What Publicity Can Do.” Three years before his nomination to the Supreme Court, Louis Brandeis argued that “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”
So it is, and so it would be today. Let the sunlight in. Let the sunlight in on Republican and Democratic crimes alike. Release ALL the Epstein files.
Donald Trump’s 2003 birthday note to his pal Jeffrey Epstein has been public for almost a week. It’s damning.
The good news for Trump is that the missive has done what damage it’s going to do. He has claimed the card is a hoax. That argument isn’t intellectually plausible or politically compelling. What would be politically compelling is if Trump were to order the release of the files. Why not? If the birthday note were the worst thing for Trump in the Epstein files, why wouldn’t he now take the popular position that all the files should be made public? That would change the dynamic of the scandal. He’d be able to move on, in a way that he can’t do now when he’s having to argue that the card isn’t authentic, or argue that the Obama and Biden administration doctored the still hidden files, or argue that President Obama is guilty of treason.
Of course, there’s an obvious reason Trump isn’t taking the path of making the files public: He knows there is material in them more damning for him than the birthday note. Trump's continued commitment to the coverup only makes sense if there's something even worse about Trump in the Epstein files.
The political damage of the ongoing coverup is real. That’s why Speaker Mike Johnson is recessing the House early rather than trying to force his members to vote against resolutions for releasing the files.
Johnson explained Monday that, “We need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing.” In other words, he wants to give the administration time over the recess to organize a more effective coverup, perhaps by striking a deal with Ghislaine Maxwell.
The next six weeks will probably make or break the coverup. If Congress returns and Trump’s efforts at distraction haven’t worked, or if he hasn’t arranged some sort of deal with Maxwell, or if he hasn’t succeeded in having Pam Bondi and Kash Patel “discover” the files have been doctored by Biden and Obama, or if Bondi and Patel haven’t managed to purge the files of whatever is terrifying him, then he could lose political control of the situation. Republicans will return in September and vote to release the files. The coverup will become even more of a political burden for Trump and the Republicans in the fall.
This means we have to keep an eagle eye on what Trump and Bondi and Patel are up to over the next six weeks. And we need to encourage patriots within the government to keep us apprised of what nefarious schemes might be underway.
The message from those of us in opposition about the coverup is also important. It shouldn’t be “Release the Epstein files that mention Trump.” It should be “Release all the files.”
The Epstein affair is a genuine scandal that reaches beyond Trump. It’s the story of a shameful coverup of horrible crimes on behalf of our political, social, and financial elites. The worst sexual predator of recent decades was close to two U.S. presidents—and to countless others in positions of power, wealth, and celebrity. In the face of such corruption and elite self-protection, the principled opposition must favor releasing all the files, exposing all the facts, without regard to who benefits.
Leave a comment
So: If well-known Democrats get hurt by the files’ release? Tough. If the Biden and Obama and Bush administrations all get criticized for not doing enough to bring justice to Epstein’s victims and accountability to his associates? Tough. If life becomes awkward for some establishment big shots? Tough.
In fact, good. Releasing the files would be good for the sake of basic justice and accountability. But it would also be good for the Democratic party. Yes, that party should go into the 2026 and 2028 elections as the party of responsible governance and the defender of democratic institutions. But it should also go into those elections as the party of righteous popular anger at terrible elite behavior and its indefensible coverup.
Democrats have been struggling for a message. Here’s one, from a great liberal reformer of a century ago—a progressive Republican who became a Democrat in 1912, and who wrote a famous article in 1913 entitled “What Publicity Can Do.” Three years before his nomination to the Supreme Court, Louis Brandeis argued that “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”
So it is, and so it would be today. Let the sunlight in. Let the sunlight in on Republican and Democratic crimes alike. Release ALL the Epstein files.
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