Ultimately, as it relates to the topic, I think the logic that "Trump isn't in the Epstein files because if he was the Democrats would have released it" is flawed because there are very reasonable scenarios where the Democrats wouldn't have released that information (whether out of general self-preservation or on moral/ethical grounds).
I think this is the most reasonable explanation. They fanned a conspiracy theory to gain a political edge and now must admit it was all a lie. The part of this that is unfortunate for them, but should be illuminating to the rest of us, is that they got themselves stuck in this place where they themselves had to provide evidence for their own conspiracy. Where you and I differ is that you think that damaging faith in our national institutions to gain a momentary political edge is acceptable politics. A central part of Trump’s whole scheme is to claim that there are shadowy figures out there ruling us all from behind the curtain. The 2020 election was rigged. Biden colluded with Ukraine. Even the national hurricane center is on it. And if anyone is still wondering whether these other conspiracies are any more credible than this Epstein farce, pay close attention to their own words in this moment: “The conspiracy theories just aren’t true, never have been.”
When I hear "list" I don't think of a piece of paper Epstein had titled "People I'm blackmailing to whom I trafficked minors." I think more generally in terms of evidence that various law enforcement agencies uncovered proving that other people were involved in illegal activity. Do you think that law enforcement wasn't able to identify who else was involved? I find it extremely hard to believe that they were unable to find any such information, especially with so much reporting of how Epstein kept photos/videos and kept meticulous records.
Maybe there isn't a piece of paper titled "Client List" but I am sure you could go through all those documents and create one. At this point they just need to release the documents to the public.
This is possible. Which makes me wonder why the AG literally said there was a list on her desk. Do you think she was lying? It takes a monumental amount of incompetence to be wrong about something like that. Trying to figure out which it is...
Now there’s stuff coming out that Ghislain Maxwell is saying there is a list and she’ll release it for a deal. How much you want to bet if this were to happen Trump will offer her a pardon to clearly lie about his status of being on the list? Lol.
There is a flight list. Unfortunately, for Trump, he is on that list. I doubt that Epstein really was writing down a written record of all of his crimes, especially post-initial arrest.
Even putting aside the purported "client list," Bondi said there are thousands of hours of videos of CSAM. From what I can tell, neither Epstein, Maxwell, nor anyone else was charged with possession of that huge amount of CSAM. If such videos do exist, wouldn't there have been charges brought against whomever possessed those videos (and against any adults who were in the videos)? On the other hand, if the videos do not exist, then why did Bondi claim otherwise - and wouldn't their non-existence undermine the theory that Epstein made videos of powerful men sexually abusing kids in order to blackmail them?
Ah yes, the ole “but what Trump did was waaaaaaaayyy worse.” The difference is I can see that all politicians do a form of this in one way or another and your TDS makes it seem bigger when Trump does it. In terms of conspiracy theories, how about “he’s sharper than he’s ever been.” TDS is rough, I get it, but you can escape its grip, if you try.
MAGA nation has a real dilemma. They can believe what their Dear Leader, his High Priestess (Pam Blondi (misspelling intended)) and his High Priest (Kash Patel) are saying even though it's very similar to what Democrats have been saying for years or they can disagree since it runs counter to the conspiracy theories that they have been promulgating during the same period including what was originally implied by Pam Bondi herself. If their reaction to Laura Ingraham's performance at the Turning Points USA convention it seems that they prefer to believe the original narrative rather than the new version although it won't make any difference in the end since they continue worshiping Trump and Bondi and Patel aren't going anywhere. Laura Ingraham and MAGA's reaction to the Epstein files
You know, Mike, I hear what you are saying. But honestly, using your view of what is meant by “list”, them saying “there is no list” is akin to saying “we don’t have solid evidence of wrongdoing by particular other people”. And that kind of result is so common that it does t rise to evidence of a cover up. At least not compared to the alternative hypothesis of Trump hyping up something that he has no ability to deliver.
